A Time Again
by azyrian
Summary: Seven years have gone by since Raven left the Titans. She stayed in Jump City for reasons even she didn't know. Now, when she least expected it, Raven found herself face to face with none other than Nightwing. As old feelings resurface, so do old enemies.
1. Leaving

Hello all and welcome to the very first chapter of 'A Time Again.' I decided I'd be a nice person and give you a Christmas prezzie early. Hope you enjoy this!

And yes, I know I have other stories to see too, but this one was (in my opinion) such a good idea that I couldn't pass it up. That and I made up the plot-line in 30 minutes at 12:30 in the morning. That and I have a lot of ideas for it…so, here you go.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything not previously owned by me.

Oh, yesh, this is set after all the The Ends. And this is a Raven/Robin pairing and that only. You don't like, don't read. Simple as that. You flame me, tis ok. I have plenty of marshmallows to share with reviewers.

And this is rated T because there is minor swearing, some other stuff I know is going to come but I don't know what it is, and just because I can. And if Raven is OOC, that's ok, because that's how it's supposed to be. All will be explained. Hopefully.

Hmm…I think I'll dedicate this to Lain the Fluff-Master, for reviewing when no one else did and because she's going through a tough time now, and Insanity101, for partial inspiration and awesome possum stories.

Ok, sorry, now you can read.

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**A Time Again **

**Chapter One: Leaving **

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He was doing it again. Raven wasn't sure if he was aware of it, but it affected the whole team, and not for the better.

After Raven defeated her father, she had expected Robin to immediately go after Slade; but he didn't. He surprised her and the rest of the team by putting crime-fighting second for awhile and his friends first.

Raven supposed that was how it started. Since she was free of her father's rule, she was able to feel more without fear of her powers getting out of control. For some time now, Raven had suppressed dangerous feelings for Robin, and now that she could actually feel, she didn't know what to do. But she soon found out that the Boy Wonder felt the same way. They began to spend more and more time together, and finally, after a significant amount of pressure from their friends, started officially going out.

Things had been good for awhile, and then after a bombing in a corporate building that was under construction, everything went downhill.

Robin immediately knew who was responsible. Slade was back, and even more ready to take down the Teen Titans. The explosion had merely been a warning, the bait, and Robin had been caught.

He soon fell back into his usual Slade-hunt routine. He barely ate, never slept, and snapped at everyone. They all were used to this by now, but that didn't make it any easier to deal with.

Starfire thought that his actions were somehow her fault, that she had driven him into his solitude, and she was constantly off in thought with large bags under her eyes from lack of sleep. Cyborg tried talking to him, but got rudely kicked out. He never tried again. Beast Boy didn't even bother to try, he thought that if Robin wanted to act like a jerk, just let him be, and if he needed help, he would ask them. So it was only Raven that still tried to talk to him, to get him to eat, to at least take a break. But her actions were to no avail. Robin was their head-strong leader with a stubborn streak a mile wide, and nothing but stopping Slade could possibly end his obsession.

And Raven was sick of it. She was sick of seeing her teammates and friends suffer because Robin wouldn't push his pride out of the way, and most of all, sick of Robin not being able to trust them, to trust _her_ enough to help.

Raven was so sick of Robin's actions, that she herself was becoming short-tempered and reclusive. Every once in awhile her temper would really rise at the dumbest of things and she could tell that when that happened, three of her friends were still scared of her. Robin was either incredibly good at hiding his fear or he wasn't afraid of her at all.

But no matter how much good she did, no matter how nice she acted, and no matter how often she reassured her friends that her evil side was diminished, she could still see and feel that flicker of fear that held their hearts at bay. Raven figured out that there wasn't much more she could do or say to banish that fear, and that it would probably always remain.

Not that she could blame them. Her destiny was the most frightening thing they had probably ever been through. They most likely wouldn't quickly forget it, if they ever did at all.

That was what she hated just as much as Robin's obsession. Raven never wanted to bring fear to anyone except those that brought fear to others. They were her friends and her only family, and being afraid of a family member is something no one can bounce back from; there would always be a part being held back.

XXXXXX

Raven silently strode out of her room and down the hall to Robin's. This was like a daily routine to her now; go to Robin's room and try to talk some sense into him or get at least get him to say something. She didn't expect anything to change, just to keep up the same monotone ritual until something finally altered.

She knocked loudly on his door, and after the usual no answer, let herself in. Robin was in the same spot he had been almost every time she had come to his room. He sat, hunched over a paper riddled desk with one lamp to light his readings. His room was the same too; newspaper clippings hid the walls, almost all bearing the ever-watching face of Slade. The table to her right was covered with different items ranging from a replica of Slade's mask to the lasers his robots used.

Shaking her head, Raven wove her way through the clutter to Robin's side. She gently touched him on the shoulder and he jumped, obviously startled. Basic instincts taking over, Robin whirled around, grabbed Raven's wrist, and flipped her over and onto the floor. His eyes widening, Robin realized who he had flipped. Groaning, Raven sat up and glared at Robin.

"What the hell was that for?" she demanded, grabbing the hand Robin held out to her. Hoisting her to her feet, Robin avoided her gaze and sat back down at his desk.

"Sorry," he muttered, not looking at her, "I thought you were an intruder." Raven shook her head.

"An intruder?" she asked incredulously, "The alarms would have gone off if someone tried to break in, and even then, they probably wouldn't have gotten very far into the Tower." She stated exasperatedly. Robin said nothing and Raven was becoming even more infuriated.

"Honestly, Robin, you need to stop this. You're not even thinking logically about the simplest of things. You've got your self wound up in this Slade business so much I can barely tell the difference between you two anymore."

Robin stiffened at this comment; Raven had struck a nerve with him. She could feel the anger bubbling inside him, and when he said nothing, she continued.

"The hunted has become the hunter, and I'm not sure if this is a good thing. But as much as you and Slade have in common, there is still one thing that separates you; you have friends." Raven said honestly, but not bothering to hide the irritation in her voice. "But if you continue to act like this, to maintain your obsession, you will become him."

Robin's pent-up anger had reached a breaking point. He stood up and faced Raven, his mask hiding his anger, but the waves were felt by Raven nonetheless.

"I am nothing like him; and I never will be." He growled dangerously. Raven raised an eyebrow.

"You may think that, but you have friends down there that barely know you anymore. You have become a heartless, emotionless droid that does the same thing every day. You're not even living anymore, Robin. This team needs a leader, not an obsessed hermit crab."

Raven hated to say things like that, but it was the truth, and the only option left to try and snap him out of this stage. Robin's eyes narrowed in rage as each of her words hit him like a slap across the face.

"What would you have me do?" he shouted, throwing his hands in the air, "Give up on finding Slade altogether? Just let him take control of the city?" Raven frowned.

"If you don't start acting like a friend and lead this team, Slade will take this city just as easily as if we gave it to him!" she yelled right back. "If you aren't going to direct this team, then I don't think you're fit for the title anymore." She snarled, trying everything to make him snap back into his senses.

"So what are you saying? That you're going to appoint a new leader?" Robin bellowed, outraged.

"I'm not saying anything. Just telling you what everyone's been thinking." Raven sneered. "If you don't snap out of this you are going to loose your friends. You will stoop to Slade's level and become exactly what he has wanted since day one. You'll be playing right into his hands." She hissed coldly.

Robin shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe you're actually saying this to me. You were the last person on my side and now this."

"I am on your side. I am trying to help you. And if you're going to be a bigoted ass about it, I won't help you anymore." Raven said, staring him in the eyes. Robin's mouth dropped open; the last thing he wanted was to push her away. She then turned on her heel and strode to his door, stopping just as she was about to leave.

"And when you become exactly what Slade has wanted all this time, don't say I didn't tell you so." she said, walking out the door and closing it behind her.

X

When Raven came walking into the hallway, she was met with the three other members of the team. She could see the glimmer of fear shining in their eyes as she stared them down like a vulture.

"What?" she snapped, just wanting to get to her room. Starfire cringed slightly at the tone of her voice, Cyborg frowned, and Beast Boy didn't meet her piercing gaze. They had undoubtedly heard her and Robin's fight. Raven didn't want to sound agitated, but shouting gave her an unbearable head ache. When none of them responded Raven didn't wait around; she immediately headed for the quiet sanctuary of her room.

Sighing, Raven collapsed in her bed and rubbed her temples slowly. Why did he have to be so stubborn? If that damn pride didn't get in the way all the time someone might be able to break through his seemingly indestructible barriers and help him out. But of course not, his obstinate streak was what made him Robin. Groaning, Raven pulled herself off of her bed and headed out the door; she needed some tea.

When Raven entered the common room, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Starfire were all sitting on the couch. Beast Boy and Cyborg were trying to concentrate on a race, but finding it hard to. When the three of them heard Raven going about the kitchen and making her tea, the game was paused and all of them were staring at her.

Raven kept her back to them, ignoring their questioning stares. She sipped her hot tea silently, sighing deeply as the liquid lessened her head ache. Finally, when she thought she could avoid their looks no longer, Raven turned around and stared them in the eyes.

"Um, are you ok?" Beast Boy asked cautiously. Raven laughed bitterly; something that did not suit her.

"Am I ok?" she said, slamming her mug of tea on the counter. "Oh, I'm about as ok as someone can be when their boyfriend is obsessed with a psychopath and their remaining friends are afraid of her. But besides that, I'm just peachy." She cried out, turning around and striding briskly to the door.

Beast Boy, Cyborg and Star all stared at her in shock. Raven _never _acted like this.

"Friend!" Starfire cried, "Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving. I can't deal with this anymore." Raven answered, never stopping.

Each of their mouths sprang open as they watched their friend's retreating back.

X

Raven strode up to her room, still trying to comprehend the decision she had just made. She said she was leaving, quitting the team. Was that what she really wanted? Raven considered this. She always had this little thought in the back of her head that she didn't fit in and should just leave. But there was always her friends holding her back. Now, there was nothing. Her friends were afraid of her, something Raven couldn't live with, and Robin didn't want her help, so she had no reason to stay.

Placing up a stony façade, Raven entered her room and began filling a backpack with the few things she treasured and needed. Awhile back for Christmas, Raven had received some street clothes from Robin if she ever desired to wear something else. Well now she realized that those would be perfect if she was going to be out on the streets. The last thing she needed was for people to recognize her and then the press to start asking questions. She would just silently fade into the shadows and not be noticed by anyone.

Quietly, Raven grabbed the clothes from the bottom drawer in her dresser and changed into them. Surprisingly, she found she rather liked them. The navy blue cargos hung loosely around her legs and she found them incredibly comfortable and easy to move around in. Since it was getting colder outside, Raven put on the black jacket over her dark grey tank top.

Raven pulled open the top drawer of her dresser and removed the mirror to Nevermore and placed it gently in her bag. She had accumulated a few more articles of normal clothing over the years, and also placed those in her bag. A book might be nice, so Raven stuffed her favorite one along with her costume in the backpack. Luckily, Raven had saved up some money over the years and placed all of it in her pocket.

Frowning, she realized that her boots would probably have to go too, and dug around in her closet until she found a pair of sneakers that she had never worn. She quickly pulled them on her feet and headed for the door, but stopped just as she was about to leave.

On her nightstand were two pictures; one of all the Titans, happily gathered together for the picture, and for once, Raven gave a small smile. The other was of her and Robin. It was taken recently, and now Raven was laughing, her arm around Robin.

Banishing the old memories away from her mind, Raven quickly slipped the photos in her bag and left her room.

X

Cyborg had come to Robin and told him that Raven was leaving shortly after she announced it. Robin couldn't believe it, she didn't even give a reason, or ever express that she had wanted to do this before.

Robin left his room for the first time in two days and heard someone going quietly and quickly down the stairs. He sprinted for the flight of stairs and saw a flash of purple hair turn the corner. Hastily he flew down the stairs and saw Raven heading for the door, about ready to leave forever.

"Raven, wait!" he cried out, hoping she would listen to reason. Raven wavered and turned her head to the side. Then she looked down at her feet and silently left Titan's Tower.

Robin shook his head and sank to the ground. Raven had been right; in his arrogance and narrow-mindedness he had pushed all his friends away. And now he had pushed her so far that he couldn't bring her back.

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Well there you have it. Please tell me if you liked it, loved it, hated it, want to kill me, or if I should just kill myself and save everyone the trouble.

I considered updating every other week or something, but I want to have at least a good start into a new chapter each time I update, so updates might be scattered and slow. This is mainly due to exams coming up (blech) and the fact that I get distracted very easily.

Merry Christmas! Or, if you're the politically correct type: Happy Christmahanakwanzakuh. Or however it's spelled.


	2. Fast Forward

Thank you soo much to all that reviewed, it means a lot to me. This will be your only update for at least a week or two, depending. So, sorry!

Consider this a New Years' gift. I'm too generous...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything not previously owned by me.

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**A Time Again **

**Chapter Two: Fast-forward **

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Almost two months had gone by since Raven had left the Tower and things seemed to be going fairly well for her.

She had found someone looking for a person to room with, so Raven moved in with them. Coincidentally, the apartment was close to the bookstore she had found a job at, so everything seemed to work out.

Raven often found herself wondering if she had done the right thing leaving the Titans. And at first, they had seemed fine without her.

Not three weeks after she had left, they had finally defeated Slade. He had been hiding in an abandoned warehouse on the other side of town, and the Titans went after him. Raven didn't know how long they had fought him. In the end, Robin had planted several explosive charges all around the building and detonated; destroying the building and taking Slade along with it. At least that was the story she had heard on the news, and from her experience with the news, things tended to get over exaggerated and lied about.

After that happened, she actually considered going back; thinking that Robin's obsession might be diminished after Slade was finally gone, but she never plucked up the courage. Maybe if she had, she could have salvaged the team.

When the press figured out that Raven wasn't there when Slade was defeated, they began asking questions, and Raven knew that put a lot of pressure on Robin and the rest of the team. So one by one they left; Robin first, vanishing into thin air. Then Starfire returned to Tamaran and Cyborg left and worked at a car garage. Raven still saw Beast Boy every once in awhile, protesting on television against animal cruelty, and once she saw Cyborg at the post office, still the same as ever; and even then, she didn't acknowledge him.

But Robin was the one that puzzled her more than anything. Raven knew he wouldn't stop fighting crime, but she never heard anything about him. But the crime-rate was suspiciously low in Jump City and Raven suspected that he was carrying on, only in secret.

Much like what she was doing. Though she was half-demonic, fighting crime was etched in her head and heart, and no matter how she tried, she couldn't stop wanting to help others when she saw them in trouble. So she didn't. At night, when crime was high, Raven ventured out to stop the criminals that lurked in the shadows.

Before the Titans split up, she had let them handle the city's felons. And now they were gone, so Raven took it upon herself to stop at least some of the offenders. Only one person can do so much, but she at least tried; for her friends.

Raven could still see the Tower in her minds eye; full of laughter and friendship. But now it was deserted, quiet, eerie and gathering dust just like all the other abandoned buildings in this city. There was a saying Raven knew, that it was not good to dwell on the past.

But it was hard not to.

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_Seven years later. _

Raven smacked her alarm clock violently and the annoying beeping stopped. Sighing, she rolled back over and snuggled down in the warm comforter, slowly falling back asleep.

But she only hit snooze, and the damn thing went off again nine minutes later. Groaning, Raven pulled her pillow over her head and a black tendril of power reached out and turned the alarm off.

This was how her mornings usually were; a little scuffle with the alarm clock, usually her breakfast burning and she always seemed to trip over something. But besides that, she really didn't have much to complain about. Her life was good compared to most.

Three and a half years ago she had saved up enough money to open up a small bookstore/café, and the business was really quite good. She had few friends, enough that she wasn't lonely and bored out of her mind, but enough that she could still spend time alone. She had her own apartment in the downtown area, just in walking distance of work.

Of course, not like she needed to walk. Her employees and friends thought it strange that she didn't own a car, but of course they didn't know that she could fly. In fact, no one besides the Titans knew about her powers or her true past. And she didn't see the reason why anyone else should know.

X

"Where do you want me to put this?" Justine asked, holding up a large box of coffee beans. Raven looked up from her order form and stared at her newest employee.

"Um, stick under the machine." She said, gesturing to the cabinet with the coffee machine on top. Justine nodded and placed the box in the cabinet and then went to get some more decorations.

Valentines Day was just around the corner and everything was short of chaotic at Raven's work. Somehow, the blasted holiday had snuck up on her and now she was putting up decorations at the last minute. Not to mention that Jump City was experiencing a cold front and everybody seemed to want to gather at her cozy bookstore. So her employees were flitting around trying to put up decorations while customers milled about and got in the way.

A short scream rang throughout the small building and Raven looked up, startled.

"Rae?" someone shouted and Raven guessed it was David, "The cappuccino machine's broken again."

"Damn it," Raven muttered, setting down her pen, "Who'd it spill on?" she shouted back, heading over to the mess.

"Luckily, no one this time; just that lady's boots." David answered, sticking his thumb over his shoulder and at the woman wiping off her shoes with some napkins. Raven groaned and surveyed the scene. Cappuccino covered the floor, which fortunately, was tile. The machine occasionally sputtered out a few more drops and rattled a bit. Raven shook her head and turned back to David.

"Get someone to clean this up before anyone slips on it and I'm sued." Raven ordered. David nodded and Raven walked over to the lady.

"I am really sorry about this," she said, handing her some more napkins. "That stupid machine hates me."

The woman shook her head and smile. "It's ok. I've had that happen plenty of times, so no harm no foul." Raven raised an eyebrow.

"This has happened to you before?" The woman stood up and straightened her navy suit.

"Yes, but thankfully this time wasn't as bad as the last." Raven was still confused. "Roxanne Stone with the Jump City Health Services, I'm here to inspect the premises."

Raven's eyes grew wide and her heart dropped to her toes.

"Right." She answered, groaning silently and turning around, "Follow me."

This day was getting better every minute.

X

Sighing, Raven dropped her keys and fell back onto her bed. That had been one of the most chaotic and tiring days in her life since Slade's androids had attacked the Tower. Even though she had completely forgotten about the inspection, everything turned out better than she had expected. The health inspector had only found a few minor fractures in her business and Raven wasn't going to be shut down. But besides the cappuccino machine breaking and a few minor mishaps with some books, nothing else had gone wrong.

Groaning, Raven pulled herself to her feet and made her way to the bathroom. She was keen on taking a nice hot shower and then going straight to bed.

X

Raven jolted out of her slumber and smacked her alarm brutally. But it was still dark outside, and her alarm wasn't what was going off. Raven stumbled from her bed and stared out her window. On the street below at least four fire trucks sped down the road, heading for the burning building around the corner. Groaning slightly, Raven hastily donned her costume and phased through the wall.

By the looks of it, the fire had just recently started since most of the building was still intact. But since it was so late at night, many people didn't get a chance to escape before the flames cut off their exits. Raven landed silently in the alley next to the building and phased through the brick wall.

Almost nothing was burning on the main level. Above, Raven could hear the crackle of the flames eating through the wood, and then someone screamed. She quickly flew up the stairs and coughed as the smoke hit her face. Everywhere she looked mischievous orange flames engulfed anything in its way.

"Hello?" Raven shouted, floating forward and checking in the doorways, "Is anyone here?"

She turned around suddenly; someone had cried for help. Raven flew down the corridor to the last door on the left and looked around. Out of the corner of her eye she saw someone move; a woman was pinned to the floor by a chunk of the ceiling. At the sight of Raven the woman shouted over to her.

"Hurry, please. I can't feel my leg." she cried, trying and failing to sit up. Ebony power surrounded the rubble and lifted it carefully off of the woman. Raven set it down slowly to her left and helped the woman to her feet.

"You're leg is probably broken." Raven told her as she put her hand on the leg. Her fingertips glowed blue for a moment and then it stopped. "The break is only a fracture for now, but we had better get out of here quick."

"Wait," the woman said hoarsely, coughing, "My baby is in the other room." Raven sighed and removed the woman's arm from her shoulder.

"Can you stand?" The lady nodded and Raven left her side and ventured into the adjacent room.

She heard the baby's screams before she could see it. Raven covered her mouth and flew blindly towards the shrieks, wanting to hurry before anything collapsed. The basinet lay on its side, partially on fire, and the baby lay a few feet from it. A loud groan emanated from the wood support beams above and Raven heard a few crack. Just before any fell, Raven dove for the baby and positioned a shield over herself. She could hear the beams ricochet off of the shield and soon nothing else bounced off.

Raven cracked open her eyes, she was still alive. Letting out the air she had been holding, Raven stood up and cradled the baby against her chest. That had been close; too close. Time to go. She flew over the debris and beams until she exited the room. The woman cried for joy at the sight of her child.

"Thank you so much." She breathed, hugging her baby close. Raven pulled her arm over her shoulder and the two began hobbling out the door.

"Thank me when we get out of here." She muttered, coughing loudly. They had to get out of this smoke before they all died of asphyxiation.

After they had not taken five steps, a man covered in dust came bursting out of a room coughing like mad. A large cloud of dust followed him out of the room as the ceiling fell in. Raven and the woman stared wide-eyed and startled at the man as the baby began to cry again.

"Are you alright?" Raven asked, touching him lightly on the shoulder. The man nodded and coughed some more. "Doe you know if there is anyone else in here?" When he turned to her, Raven gasped slightly; he was only 15 or so.

"I-I was watching a boy for someone upstairs," He answered, coughing some more. "I came back down here after he fell asleep. His mom was supposed to be home...I should've stayed." He finished, shaking his head. Raven nodded and pulled on his slightly burnt shirt to get him to follow her.

"It's not your fault. Now come on, we need to get out of here before the building collapses on us." Raven said, rubbing her eyes furiously. Everywhere around them the building was caving in; Raven was surprised it had even held up this long. They all turned around and began making their way to the stairs as fast as they could. Then something was thrown into the corridor before them and a large wall of ice barricaded their exit.

"You don't want to go that way." A male voice came from behind them. Raven vaguely recognized that voice, and turned towards the source. She could see a faint outline of a man in the thick smoke. "Follow me." He added, turning around and walking away.

Raven helped the woman along as fast as she could and soon they caught up to the mysterious man. When Raven saw him, she gasped quietly. She recognized that face and knew that voice. Starfire had told her about him, and Raven had caught snatches of pictures from her mind.

"Nightwing…" she whispered under her breath, but she wasn't heard as the teenager cried out in relief.

"Bryon? Is he going to be ok?" he asked, looking at Bryon unconscious in Nightwing's arms.

"If we get out of here, he will be. Is there another set of stairs anywhere?" Nightwing asked, looking down the hallway. The woman clutching her baby nodded.

"There are some at the very end of the hall to your left." She croaked, trying to shift her weight but cringed in pain. Nightwing nodded and silently began making his way towards the stairs.

Raven could hear the ceiling caving in behind them and she tried to quicken their pace. With each passing step the floorboards creaked and groaned, threatening to give away at any moment. The crackling flames reached out with greedy fingertips and tried to swallow up anything within reach.

With a violent roar, the ceiling just behind them collapsed, blocking their retreating path. Raven's heart palpitated with fear, and she hoped the stairs were still accessible; healing the woman's leg had drained her, and if worse came to worse, she didn't know if she could get everyone out.

As soon as Nightwing kicked open the door to the stairs, bright flames burst out of the opening, finally finding their escape. Raven reacted just on time and covered everyone with an ebony shield until the flames subsided. When she looked back over at the door, a large pile of rubble blocked it; their last escape had been cut off.

Sighing, Raven tried gathered all her remaining strength to her, "Gather close." She said, waving everyone over. "Azarath, Metrion, Xinthos." She muttered and black energy surrounded everyone and phased them out of the building.

They all landed roughly in the alleyway to the side of the building, but they were all safe. Raven, exhausted, leaned up against the wall behind her for support. Nightwing handed off Bryon to the teenager and helped the woman over to the paramedics. Raven knew he was watching her, and that kind of scrutiny made her very uncomfortable. As he began to return, to no doubt ask her questions, Raven took to the air and fled for home.

"Hey…" Nightwing started and finished as he realized Raven had vanished.

When he first saw her, he wasn't sure if it really was Raven. But after seeing her use her powers, he was definitely sure it was her. She had changed quite a lot since she walked out of his life, almost so much he didn't recognize her at first. But how many people had purple hair and a chakra stone in the middle of their forehead? Her silky amethyst hair was long now, longer than it had ever been. But it was her outfit that had changed the most. Instead of her usual leotard and cloak garb, Raven wore black pants that hugged her luscious curves, a navy tank top that revealed her long slim arms and a dark grey cloak. Nightwing could tell she was surprised to see him, and the feeling was mutual. He thought she would've left the city to start a new life, but she didn't. He got the feeling she was happy, and Nightwing felt a twinge of something. Jealousy? Guilt? He didn't know.

Nightwing had always felt responsible for pushing her away, and put all the blame on himself. He had long given up trying to find her, but now that he had seen her again, a new determination grew inside him. He was going to find Raven and make up for lost time if it was the last thing he did.

X

Raven leaned up against her door, her heart beating wildly. What frightened her most wasn't the fact that she could've died; that barely fazed her, but that he was back, and so were her feelings for him. She had convinced herself years ago that her feelings for Robin had diminished when she had left the Tower. But now that she saw him again, these feelings came back and she didn't know what to do. Raven longed to hunt him down and find him and tell him how she really felt. But she didn't expect everything to be okay; she had deserted her team and family, and Raven felt she didn't deserve the forgiveness Nightwing was bound to offer.

Raven sighed and readied herself for bed. She didn't know what she was going to do about this; Nightwing was most likely going to try and find her, and if he was still half the detective she remembered, he would succeed. The best she could do now was just wait and live her life as she normally would.

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And that concludes the end of chapter two. Hey, I kinda like that…I'll end all chapters with that from now on. Sos, you likey? Yeah, I know the whole baby in the other room thing was cliché, but hey, who's to say what I can or cannot do? Yesh, yesh, now please review. And I'm not going to update until I finish chapter five, which shouldn't be too incredibly long, unless I'm swamped with homework or just don't get around to it…


	3. A Storm is Brewing

Heloo all and welcome to the third chapter of 'A Time Again'. Hopefully this update was fast enough, and if not, at least it came. Just one little thing:

In response to a question that may have come up with some of you, Roxanne Stone _is not_ related to Cyborg. I didn't even realize the connection until it was brought to my attention. Sorry for the confusion!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything not previously owned by me.

Note: The little '_Two days later' _thing is exactly as it says. Nothing of any substance happens in those two days, unless you would like me to write some crap and stick it in here, therefore delaying the interesting stuff coming up. but the cold front is ebbing away, so tis becoming warmer, which will be of use later on. oh yesh, and remember: Six years can change people. That's why Raven's OOC, because she's had time to open up.

**X some time has passed, usually hour(s) or a few days.  
x I'm switching my perspective from a character's thoughts to another's. Not POV. **

If that's confusing, sorry, you'll understand later on.

My Lego people are watching me. Oo

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**A Time Again **

**Chapter Three: A Storm is Brewing **

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Raven's morning was as it usually was, only worse. She thought she'd actually attempt breakfast, but succeeded in burning it and her hand. Her rugs were feeling mutinous and tripped her several times. By the time Raven got to work she was so aggravated her employees kept their distance. Fortunately nothing upsetting happened and by lunch, Raven had calmed down quite a bit and was feeling a lot better.

Raven was putting books up on the shelves when the door opened and in stepped a familiar face.

"Ugh," Shannon shivered, making her way towards Raven. "Why does it have to be so damn cold?" Raven welcomed the distraction and turned to her friend, smiling.

"It's not that cold. You're just used to the warm." She retorted, picking up the empty box and carrying it to the back room.

"So? It's still cold." Shannon muttered, following Raven. "But anyways, I actually came here for a reason." Raven stuck her head to the side of a teetering pile of boxes and raised an eyebrow.

"Really now." She commented grabbing another full box labeled 'Tea Bags' and walking around the myriad of boxes. But then she saw Shannon's smirk and frowned. "This isn't one of your stupid blind date things is it?" She asked, striding out of the back room. Shannon's mouth opened in mock offense.

"They're not stupid, you're just picky." Raven threw her a look that said get on with it. "But no, I'm setting you up on a date. They're throwing a Valentine's Day party at work the day after tomorrow, and I managed to pilfer an invite for you." Shannon explained, rummaging around in her purse and pulling out a pink envelope. Raven took the invitation and read it carefully.

"It's a black tie event?" she groaned, looking back up at Shannon. Her friend grinned broadly.

"Yep. I figured you wouldn't have anything to do so…go." She said.

"I don't have to wear pink do I?" Raven asked worriedly. Shannon shook her head.

"I expect most everybody will be wearing black or something. But there will most likely some quirk who'll wear some bright pink lacey thing." Shannon stuck her tongue out in disgust. "But it'll be the perfect chance for you to wear that dress I got you last Christmas." She added, smirking. Raven had, rather guiltily, forgotten about the dress until now; but it would work.

"So you'll go?" Shannon asked. Raven nodded. "Good. I'll pick you up at 7:15. And you have to meet my boss; he's to die for." She added smiling. Raven rolled her eyes.

"Get out of here. You're lunch was over ten minutes ago." Raven said, waving her away. Shannon's eyes widened and she gave Raven a quick bye before speeding out the door.

Raven smirked and went back to unpacking boxes. Surprisingly, Raven was looking forward to the party. After all, the galas at Wayne Enterprises were said to be the best. Shannon was secretary to the head of Weapon's Development and in the two years that she had known her, she had never once met her boss, but she had heard plenty about him. What was even weirder was that she didn't even know his name. As much as she tried not to, Raven's mind kept wandering away to what he might look like. _Damn female emotions…_she thought furiously, trying to switch her train of thought to something else.

X

_Two days later…_

Raven frantically rummaged through her closet for a suitable pair of shoes to wear. It was all her stupid clock's fault. Of course, Raven knew that was a ridiculous excuse, but it made her feel a little bit better by blaming it on an inanimate object.

Raven had come home from work early, exhausted from the previous night's ordeal and just from a general lack of sleep. So she set her alarm and took a nap, but, as usual, hit the snooze and woke up less than an hour before Shannon was coming to pick her up. Usually, Raven did quite well under pressure, but that was when fighting, or dealing with customers, not when trying to get ready for an elegant party.

Sighing, Raven pulled out a black pair of shoes with a bearable heel; she had only worn them once, and not for a very long time, but they would have to do. Quickly standing up, she pulled her dress out of the closet and laid it on the bed and placed the shoes on the floor by it. Raven checked her watch; forty minutes until Shannon was coming, just barely enough time. She quickly jumped in the shower and washed away the day's grit and grime. Armed with a blow dryer and a comb, Raven wrestled her hair until it laid flat with small wavy curls. With fifteen minutes to go, she applied a little bit of smoky eye shadow, foundation, and a light layer of salmon colored lipstick. As carefully and hastily as she could, Raven removed her dress from its plastic cover and quickly put it on. Just as she was trying to zip it up, Shannon beeped from below. Raven walked over to the door and buzzed her in, zipping up the dress as she went. She was putting on her left shoe when Shannon knocked on her door.

"It's open!" Raven shouted from her bedroom. Shannon appeared a moment later in her door way.

"Oh, the dress fits perfectly." Shannon commented. "Ready?" she asked, surveying the scene. Shoes were strewn about her floor, and several items of clothing from previous days lay scattered around also. Raven stood up and grabbed her small black purse.

"Yeah." she said breathlessly, grabbing her coat and following Shannon out the door and down to her car.

The party was clear across town, and if traffic wasn't bad, they would be right on time. Raven watched as they drove by the Wayne Enterprises building. "Hey, I thought we were going to your work." She said, looking over at her friend. Shannon shook her head and turned left.

"Nah, it's gonna be at some big-shots house. I don't know who's though." Raven nodded and the rest of the ride was silent.

They reached the party about fifteen minutes late due to a little fender bender and every idiot on the road slowing down to gawk.

"Ugh, people are so stupid." Raven muttered, walking up the steps to the manor. "Honestly, I'm surprised we've lasted this long." Shannon just rolled her eyes as they entered the vast mansion. A butler took their coats and the two strolled off. It didn't take Shannon long to find her boss, and soon Raven found herself being practically dragged along. She finally stopped in front of the cliché type of man; tall dark and handsome.

"Rae, this is my boss Richard Grayson. Richard, this is Rae." Shannon said, taking a step back to simply observe. Raven pulled the strap on her dress back over her shoulder and looked up at Richard, but stopped short. Shannon's boss looked unnervingly familiar, but Raven couldn't quite place him. She looked into his bright grey eyes and glimpsed the emotions underneath before they were whisked away. Guilt, happiness, frustration, surprise, and…recognition? But how could he recognize her? Unless… no, that couldn't be right, could it? Raven stared into Richard's eyes and examined his facial features. It could, but that would be one big coincidence. As much as she tried to convince herself that it wasn't him, she just couldn't shake the feeling that somehow it was.

When Raven emerged from her reverie, everyone was staring at her. She had paused, hand partially outstretched, and just sat there. She clasped Richard's hand and shook it, smiling softly while pulling her dress strap back over her shoulder. When she looked back into his eyes, all traces of recognition had disappeared.

X

With seemingly endless amounts of champagne and wine, the night flew by in a blur. Raven managed to break away from Shannon a few hours later, tired and her feet incredibly sore; these shoes were not meant for long-term wear.

Raven escaped to a balcony and nestled herself in a dark corner in a cushioned chair. The night was comfortably cool and a slight breeze wafted her mauve hair. A hint of spring was tangible in the air and the insinuation of an on coming storm filled the atmosphere. The waning moon and the sparkling stars were hidden from gazing eyes by the thunderclouds that had rolled in over time.

Raven sighed and sank back in the comfy chair. This was the type of weather she loved; the tension from an approaching gale played with her senses and the dark ominous clouds served as a blanket for the stars. Surprisingly, she wasn't cold, even though the temperature drop from inside to out was incredibly obvious.

So deep was she in her musings, Raven failed to notice at first another person step outside for a breath of fresh air. When she finally came to her senses, she was surprised at who it was.

He stood with his back partially turned to her, and whether he had noticed her or not, she could not know. His sleek black hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail, and even from the back, Raven could tell there was a lot on his mind. Raven closed her eyes and leaned back in the chair, understanding the need for peace to mull over ones thoughts.

"The clouds are coming in; it looks like it's going to rain." He said aloud, still looking towards the hidden heavens. Raven opened her eyes and stared at the sky, a little startled by his random comment.

"A storm is brewing." She answered, closing her eyes once more as the silence fell between them like delicate snowflakes.

He stole a glance at her out of the corner of his eye and his face lit up a little. She was even more beautiful now than she had been then. With the wind fanning her silky amethyst hair and stirring the edges of her dress, she looked more like a peaceful goddess heard of in fantasy tales. In the shadow, it seemed that she melted into it; her dress slowly faded to black from a rich and vibrant purple. He smiled to himself after he caught sight of the black shoes tossed to the side of the chaise lounge; they looked painful to wear.

Lightening streaked across the sky, illuminating the shadows and revealing the grey cloud cover above. Thunder followed shortly after, rolling across the landscape and jerking Raven out of her restful state.

"Indeed it is." He said smiling as more thunder rumbled above them. Raven sighed and sat up, still staring at the veiled heavens, a cool breeze tickling her skin and lifting her hair.

He smiled and stared at her; she looked so much like a carefree and innocent child. But he knew she was anything but; Raven had seen and done things that few people have ever had to experience, let alone as a teenager, but she had survived it all, and went on to become the beautiful woman before him. Raven had transformed completely; no longer was she the shy, quiet, mysterious and emotion-deprived girl of yonder years, but now she had found happiness and he could tell the defeat of her father had opened more doors than anyone could have imagined.

He turned away from the heavenly sight, content to leave Raven to her thoughts, and began heading back inside. About halfway there, something small dropped on his head and began to trickle down and into his ear. He lifted his hand to his ear as the water dripped onto his fingertips. His brain locked onto the explanation a moment too late; more thunder growled just as the downpour began.

x

Raven noticed him stop out of the corner of her eye, but she was confused to why he even did. But then she knew. Raven groaned as the rain came down in frigid torrents from the dark sky.

"Great." She muttered, making no move for the door. He noted her lack of movement and darted over, grabbing her hand and heaving her to her feet.

"Come on." He nearly shouted, dragging her from her cold and wet perch and indoors. Raven hurried along as fast as she could, but dresses weren't made for a wide range of movement. Once she was out of the rain he quickly rushed back out in the rain, snatched up her discarded shoes and ran them back to her. Raven pushed her dripping purple hair out of her face and took the shoes with a breathless thank you.

Almost with a magnetic force, Raven felt her gaze being pulled up to his face and then into his eyes. The same power drew her in, captivated her, and everything disappeared except her and him. Images started to form in her mind, foreign ones that she had never seen before, and yet, she felt a sense of familiarity.

Gasping slightly, Raven tore her eyes from his and looked down at her bare feet. Her mind had a tendency to enter other's without her submission, but luckily, this time, she realized what was happening before it was too late. Raven didn't know if he had sensed her presence in his mind, since it had been such a short period of time, but she didn't trust herself to look back into his face again. But not like she had much choice.

Gently, he reached out and slipped her stubborn dress strap back over her shoulder. Electric tingles spread throughout her body, giving her slight goosebumps and making the heat rise in her face again.

"I'll go get your coat." He whispered, his hand lingering on her shoulder as he walked away. Raven's heart pumped loudly in her ears and the spot where he touched her still radiated with intense heat.

He returned not two minutes later and gently draped her black coat over her shoulders. Again, the same magnetic force pulled Raven's gaze upward and their eyes locked. Everything around them disappeared, and the air buzzed with a heated tension that was not unwelcome. The logical side of Raven was protesting greatly against such a close perimeter, saying that she didn't even know this man. But logic and reason was pushed aside when the same safe and comfortable feeling overcame her and she felt herself sinking into a golden haze of sensual bliss.

Only vaguely could Raven hear the chatter of the people around them; it was almost as if she was underwater and distantly hearing a conversation just out of her reach. But the noise grew louder, as one person struggled to get Raven's attention.

"Hello? Raven. Earth to Raven." Shannon said frustrated, shaking Raven's shoulder gently.

The spell was broken, the moment lost. Raven scowled to herself and glanced over at him, who just smiled slightly and winked playfully. She then turned to Shannon, trying to keep the disappointment from showing on her face.

"Man, you're soaked!" Shannon commented, eyes wide, while looking at Raven from head to toe. "We'd better leave before you get sick or something." Raven nodded, not really listening to what her friend said.

Until now, Raven had not realized how exhausted she was, even though it was only nearing eleven. _I'm getting old,_ she though wryly, hugging her coat closer to her shivering torso. Her feet hurt worse than they had with the shoes on, now that she was standing on cold hard marble, and them being wet did not help things.

She dimly heard Shannon say something that was of no interest of her and then say good bye to her boss. Just as they were leaving, Raven peered over her shoulder and back at him, a small smile playing on her lips. If her suspicions were correct, this could prove to be very interesting, if not fully entertaining.

X

Once Shannon dropped her off at her apartment and Raven convinced her she would be fine, Raven immediately dashed to her computer to access the internet. Going to google, Raven typed in 'Richard Grayson' and scrolled through the various articles linking themselves to the keywords. Most of them were about Richard's accomplishments at Wayne Enterprises and his friendship with Bruce Wayne, head of the company. Not willing to give up hope, Raven searched a few more pages, looking for anything that might be odd against the other articles, something that would prove her suspicions.

The fifth page held her victory and relinquish of search. The article gave a brief insight to a family that performed in a circus, so Raven clicked on the link which brought up even more information and several pictures.

Her excitement beginning to grow, Raven scrolled down quickly, trying to find anything worthwhile. About a third ways down the page, there was a paragraph that went into more depth of each of the family members and told Raven exactly what she wanted to know. As Raven read, her heart began to race faster until finally her face broke into a large mischievous grin. This was it, she had found him. Though it wasn't like he had tried to hide himself, and if he was, his ability in the area was horrible. Still smiling, Raven shut off her computer and climbed into bed.

_Hello Robin… _

XXXXXX

And so concludes chapter three. I really hope you knew who it was before I even had to say it was Robin. I thought it would've been quite obvious that she run into him…but alas, I know the plot, and you do not, so therefore I am subject to knowing more things than you. So please be so kind as to review, and I might think about updating. Mmkay? sweet...


	4. Reunion

Hello all, and welcome to ze fourth chapter of A Time Again! Sorry for the long-ish update, but hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything not previously owned by me.

Richard will occasionally be referred to as Robin and Nightwing, depending on the situation and/or costume. But otherwise, you might have to figure out why.

Ookes, nothing new, so I won't keep you…now on with the show.

XXXXXX

**A Time Again **

**Chapter Four: Reunion**

XXXXXX

Raven yawned and stretched her arms above her head. Despite her wonderful night's sleep, Raven still felt tired and sluggish, even after three cups of tea. For the first time ever, she had slept through her alarm clock's annoying ring and got up two hours later than normal. Luckily her employee David wasn't a bumbling idiot and he opened up shop for her.

She turned her attention back to the supply manifest and rubbed her eyes in a very child-like manner. The mid-morning rush had come and gone, and lunch was fast approaching. A few stragglers remained, mainly college students completing some homework or doing some last-minute studying. Raven was grateful for the silence; the ominous threat of a headache pounded in her head, and noise would only worsen the pain.

Sighing, Raven pushed aside the paper work and strode to the back room. She'd rather restock books than count them any day. Unfortunately for her, the boxes containing the books were on the topmost shelf, way beyond her reach. Frowning, Raven pulled over a ladder and slowly clambered to the top.

She, of course, could have used her powers, but past occurrences were still fresh on her mind. The first time she dared to use her powers around the store ended…differently. One of her employees, David, in fact, had seen a box of coffee beans hovering about six feet above the ground. But surprisingly, he just shook his head, gave a puzzled look, and walked off very confused. Raven hadn't heard anything about it since.

The second time was worse. A girl, new to the city, had walked into the back room just as Raven was touching down from obtaining even more coffee beans. The bloody things were seemingly cursed. The girl was apparently very scared at the sight, and had just backed away very slowly, her eyes as wide as they could get. Raven had been just as frightened and had thought the scare might've brought on a premature heart attack. Luckily, (well, for Raven) the girl told her therapist about it, (apparently she had been going through some tough times) and the doctor had given her a brand new drug to get rid of the weird hallucinations. Let's just say she hasn't been quite the same since…

So Raven had from then on out decided to not use her powers unless _absolutely necessary_ in public. And that included now, though she was tempted to the very edge of reason to chuck that little rule out the window.

But Raven wouldn't do that; she'd do better.

Grasping the box laden with very thick hardback volumes, she used her powers to secretly support the box without anyone but herself from knowing. Gently, and slowly, Raven stepped down the ladder and effortlessly placed the box on the ground. She pulled a switchblade from her back pocket and stabbed at the masking tape sealing the box, ripping it apart to reveal the books inside.

"Uh, Rae?" a voice from behind her asked. Raven straightened and looked to see who was behind her. It was David.

"Yeah?"

"There's some guy that wants to talk to you out there." He said, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder.

Raven tucked a loose strand of violet hair behind her ear. "Um, ok, just send him back."

David nodded and took off, and Raven turned back to the box of hard bounds.

"Raven?" came a male voice from the doorway. Raven continued writing down the serial Number of the box on the back of her hand.

"Yeah, what can I do for you?" she asked, not looking at him.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you." He responded. Raven picked up a few of the books, careful not to smear the pen ink.

"Alright, shoot." She replied, turning around. "Oh…"

Before her stood none other than Richard Grayson, looking much the same as he had the night before, only now there were sunglasses covering his grey eyes.

"What is it?" she asked coolly, walking past him and to an empty book rack. Richard removed his sunglasses and tucked them into the breast pocket of his suit jacket.

"I want to know why you left."

Raven placed the books on the shelf and stood there a moment, silent, and not looking at him.

"You know why." She answered, sighing and walking over to the computer at the checkout and logging in the box's serial number. He followed her, to some of her discomfort and yet unusual pleasure.

"No, actually, I don't." he said, his grey eyes searching for answers in her own. "I know part the reason, but not all of it."

Raven said nothing and went to get more books.

"I remember something along the lines of me being a 'bigoted ass', and I commend you for being so honest with me. But that couldn't have been everything." He added, continuing to follow her.

Raven sighed and turned to face him. "Leaving was probably the best thing I ever did for myself, so don't try to make me feel horrible for it. I've spent enough years bashing my head against the wall wondering if I made the right choice." She said coldly.

"Did you?" he asked.

"What?"

"Did you make the right choice, I mean."

"Yes." She confirmed. Richard looked doubtful.

"What, you don't believe me?" she asked accusingly. "Did you ever look into their eyes? Did you ever see their faces, their expressions? They were _afraid_ of me, Robin, and do you think you can just change that? People are afraid of what they don't understand. That's the simple truth. They didn't understand me, or what I could or could not do."

"They weren't-"

"Don't tell me they weren't afraid of me. You didn't see it in their eyes, or hear it in their voices. I'm surprised you ever heard anything at all; all you cared about was Slade." Raven spat. She knew that wasn't true, but her bitterness had been locked up for too long and it had finally found a way out.

Richard looked taken aback by her words, but did a fairly good job of hiding it. He opened his mouth to speak, but Raven shook her head.

"I have work to do. Can you please just go?" she sighed, pushing past him and walking back to the rack she was trying to fill. Richard frowned; he had hoped this would go better, but he was, after all, dealing with Raven, the most stubborn person he knew besides himself and Bruce. He left anyway, knowing that once someone gets into a state of mind like hers, there's not much you can do.

Raven groaned and stood in a dark corner of the back room, gently banged her head into it. Why the hell did she have to be this way?

Footsteps approached her from behind, but Raven ignored them.

"Uh, Rae?" David said a hint of desperation in his voice. Raven grunted and threw her hand above her head, hitting it against the rock wall.

"The cappuccino machine's broken _again_." Raven began to slam her head a little harder into the wall and 'arghed' loudly.

"I'm coming…" she muttered, shuffling out the door.

XXXXXX

Dropping her bag and coat where she stood, Raven slowly made her way into her bedroom and collapsed on the bed. Today had been positively exhausting, both emotionally and physically. And having Robin stop by didn't help things along.

Out of the corner of her eye, Raven could see the little red light on her answering machine blinking. Moaning quietly, she stretched out her arm and hit the button, listening as the machine replayed Shannon's message.

Finally sitting up, Raven picked up her phone and dialed Shannon's number. Her friend hadn't said what she wanted, just that she wanted Raven to call her back pronto.

"Hey Shannon, you said you needed to talk to me?" Raven said once Shannon picked up, cradling the phone with her shoulder while she was taking her shoes off.

"Oh Raven! So what's happening between you and Richard?" her friend asked slyly. Raven rolled her eyes and sighed silently.

"Absolutely nothing." She replied, falling back against her cushiony mattress. Shannon shorted over the phone.

"Yeah, right. I supposed that's the reason he asked me where you lived today." Raven bolted upright.

"He did what?" she exclaimed, not really sure if she was alarmed or pleased.

"That's right. He asked where you lived, and when I asked why he wanted to know, he just said he hadsomething foryou. So what'd you get?" she spat out, talking so fast she sounded like chattering little squirrel. Raven shook her head as her brain slowly pieced together the sentence she had just sputtered out.

"I dunno. There's nothing here that I've seen." She responded, standing up. Raven could almost hear shriek in disbelief; but it was so high, only dogs could hear it when she became this excited.

"Well look! My gosh Rae! Have I taught you nothing?" Shannon nearly shouted. Raven suppressed a laugh when she thought of Shannon jumping up and down, which she was most likely doing this very moment.

"Alright, but chill, okay?" she responded, walking to the kitchen.

The sight before her stopped Raven in her tracks. On the table, arranged perfectly in a vase that had a pewter design of a raven's wing wrapped around the whole thing with the rest of the dark bird near the bottom, were seven dried red roses. In front of the exquisite vase was a small piece of paper with a note on it.

Shannon's yelps for her attention brought Raven out of her mind-thwarting daze.

"What? What is it?" her friend asked over and over again. Raven still stood, wide eyed at the amazing spectacle before her.

"Nothing. I gotta go." Raven said, ignoring her protests and hanging up. She set the phone on the table, but missed by a long shot and it clattered to the floor. But she didn't care, the only thing that mattered right at this moment were the flowers and note before her.

She slowly sat down, nearly in a daze, and pulled the note towards her.

_'I thought you might like these. Meet me at the Tower.'_

The note wasn't signed, but she knew who it was from. Sighing, Raven sat back in her chair and idly caressed the vase. She could go, but what would that mean? This whole situation confused her. What did he want? Why did he want it?

Should she go?

Raven rubbed her temples slowly. Since when did everything become so complicated? When he had been out of her life, things had been _much_ easier. Sighing, Raven stood up, deciding to go and get it over with, and move on with her life.

But she knew that it wouldn't be that easy.

X

When Raven phased to the Tower, no one was within her sight. But she knew he was there, _somewhere._

"Hello Raven."

Raven's heart skipped a beat at those two simple words and she whirled around. Boy was she becoming sloppy.

Richard melted from the shadows, and Raven found her heart pounding, but not from surprise.

"Robin." She replied softly, but it sounded quite loud in her head. Then she reconsidered this. "I suppose you're no longer called that now, are you?" she added. He smiled.

"No, not really." He walked a little closer. "But it's nice hearing it again."

Raven's heart thumped louder, and she looked away over the water. She had missed this place, more than she had realized.

"It's nice being back here." Raven murmured. Richard stepped beside her, the fading sun casting his shadow long in front of them. Richard didn't respond; he knew he didn't have to, and Raven could tell he felt the same way.

They sat there for awhile, just silently taking in the evanescent beauty of a sunset. But soon unspoken words and still questions lingered in the air, making the atmosphere buzz with its cumbersome weight, and chilling the space around them.

Richard chose to speak first, knowing he had a lot more to apologize for than Raven did.

"I'm sorry for earlier." He said, looking down at her, his eyes filled with so many emotions Raven wasn't accustomed to.

Raven looked up at him, a soft smile playing on her delicate lips. "For what? You didn't do anything wrong." She looked back out at the bay. "Just cared." _Always cared._

"Besides, I'm the one that left." She settled down on a rock, staring up at the star-dotted sky. "I should be the one apologizing."

Richard lay down next to her. "You had your reasons for leaving; you shouldn't be blamed for that."

"But-"

"Let's stop there. We could go in circles for hours." He looked at her, smirking. "A compromise. No one apologizes, because there's nothing to forgive." Raven glared at him then her features lightened.

"Fine." She answered, shaking his extended hand, electric shivers running down her spine.

"Glad we got that settled with little force." Richard muttered.

Raven grinned and smacked him in the stomach.

X

He had watched them since they arrived, his ever watchful stare following their movements ever since hedrove upto now.

He could go down there, confront them easily, reveal himself to their conscious minds again. Their reaction would be priceless;a perfect combination ofshock and horror. He could see their faces now. He granted himself a small mirthless chuckle.

But what would it be for? That would clash uncomfortably with his well laid-out plans, despite the amount of the short-lived glory his was bound to achieve.

But without a plan, he failed to remain who they remembered.

XXXXXX

And so concludes chapter four. Have fun musing to yourself what that final part was about. I must say, this is getting _very_ amusing, for reasons I barely know. It's hard to contain myself from jumping up and down. But that's ok, enough about me. Onto you and the review you were going to drop my way.

Just so you know, this week is exam week, and me being a freshman means I'm new to this whole business. So that should be fun. And my mom wants me to study _a lot_ so the next chapter won't come for at least another two weeks, if that. Sorry...


	5. Playtime

Hm. Interesting guesses I have received. I think I'll just leave it at that.

Disclaimer: I own nothing not previously owned by me.

Enjoy.

XXXXXX

**A Time Again **

**Chapter Five: Playtime **

XXXXXX

The soft warm rays of the morning sun gently tickled Raven's face as the empath woke from her sleep. It was not like the rude awakenings by her overly-annoying alarm clock, but like slowly adjusting to the light and taking your time, waking up a bit each passing minute.

Raven smiled and snuggled in closer to the warm body she was laying next to.

Wait, now that wasn't right. Her eyes shot open, wide with fear, her heart palpitating in her chest. Who was she sleeping with? And how the _hell_ did they manage to get her to agree with it?

Raven shot upright, her hair sticking out in odd places. Then it all came back: the flowers, Robin's message, meeting him here. How could she forget?

Richard slowly sat up, his eyes adjusting to the bright sun.

"Raven?"

Heart still pounding loudly in her head, Raven gently removed his coat (that had somehow gotten around her shoulders) and handed it to him.

"I-I gotta go." She muttered before phasing away and to her apartment.

X

Richard sighed and stood up, putting on his jacket. Somehow, he should have expected her to do something like that, but something inside wanted to believe that she would be the same woman he knew seven years ago. But she wasn't.

Raven had changed a lot, and this realization hit him harder than he expected. She had had time to open up, become the woman she had always longed to be. But he had to adjust to this, just as she would have to adjust to his changes also.

Taking one last look at the forlorn Tower, Richard revved up his motorcycle and sped away.

X

Raven reappeared in front of her door in the solitude of her apartment. Groaning, she sagged to the floor and rested her head against the wooden frame. Screwing up her eyes, she softly banged her head against the door in annoyance. That was the second time in at least twelve hours that she'd done that. She'd have to cut back on the frustration with herself if she didn't want to loose too many brain cells.

Sighing, Raven slowly clambered to her feet and headed for the shower, late for work for the second time this week.

XXXXXX

"Hey, you doing anything tonight?" Raven looked up from the cash register and at Shannon.

"Uh, not really. Why?" Shannon pulled a strand of stray auburn hair off her jacket.

"A couple of people from work are getting together to play cards. Sort of as a celebratory event of Gary's return."

"Oh, Gary's back?" Raven asked, ringing up a customer's purchase.

"Yeah, all nice and tanned too. From what I heard, he had a blast also."

Their friend Gary Sioux had taken a three month trip all around Africa, having won the adventure in a sweepstakes not long before. He used to work with Shannon at Wayne Enterprises, but quit his job and opened his own hair salon. He said it gave him more free time to do what he wanted.

Raven smiled at the memory. She thanked her customer for coming and turned to her friend. "It would be nice to see him again." she mused. "Alright, I'll come."

Shannon grinned. "Great. I'll pick you up around 7-ish, mmkay?" she said, heading out the door.

Raven smiled and waved goodbye to her friend; Gary always had some outrageous stories to tell, and was funnier than Beast Boy had tried to be. She was looking forward to tonight.

XXXXXX

The rest of the day was uneventful, and Raven found herself longing for the cappuccino machine to break again, or something hectic along those lines.

When she finally left work, Raven literally flew home to get ready. She quickly jumped in the shower to remove the strong coffee smell and gobbled down a sandwich all in forty-five minutes. Secretly, she was quite proud of herself. In the years past since she had been a Titan, her daily rituals and movements became slower and more relaxed; whereas when she was a Titans, things had to be rushed in case of an attack.

What amazed her was that she hadn't thought about Richard all day. But what flabbergasted her even more was that he had kept his distance from her. If memory served her right, he had absolutely no clue when to leave someone alone or when to intervene.

Shannon arrived around seven like she said she would, and they drove to another side of town that wasn't a whole lot different than her part. When they reached the apartment Shannon hit a button labeled 'Warner'.

"Hello?" came a female's voice that sounded agonizingly familiar, though it annoyed Raven to no end.

"Hey, it's Shannon." The buzzer sounded and the door opened. Shannon smiled at Raven and walked on in.

The little get together was on the second floor in room 12. The apartment was small, but arranged expertly to make the residence appear much larger than it actually was. Raven waited uncomfortably as Shannon greeted everyone; meeting new people always bothered her, considering they had a tendency to judge her before they got to know her. Sure, she met people everyday at work, but those were people she was probably never going to see again in her life; but here showed a small promise of meeting again. And of course, there was always that small chance that someone would recognize her from when she was a Titan, and that was publicity she did _not_ want.

"Everybody," Shannon said, interrupting Raven's thoughts, "This is my friend Raven. Raven that's Robbie," she pointed to a man with dirty blonde hair and wire-rimmed glasses, "Gina," Shannon gestured to the tall red head with amazingly bright hazel eyes sitting at the table, "and Kit. This is her apartment."

Raven's glance lingered on Kit for awhile longer. The woman was pretty, there was no hiding that, but she had a hardened glint in her blue eyes that could pass as a stolid façade presented to the world. Her fair blonde hair fell to her waist and the clothing she wore accented everything to almost a repulsive degree.

This was, coincidentally, just the quirk Shannon had been talking about before they went to the Valentines Day party. Kit had worn a very revealing, gaudy, pink, frilly thing as a dress that night. Luckily Raven, as well as Shannon, had steered clear of her general area, though Raven had caught bits and pieces of her conversation and the annoying voice stuck in her head.

Then the knowledge of a memory stirred in her mind. But for this to be who she thought it was would have to be a very _large_ coincidence. Of course, this seemed to be the week for great coincidences to pop up in her life, so she went with it. But to avoid nasty repercussions and uncomfortable silences, she decided to find out if this was true through small talk.

"So," she started, standing next to Kit with her hands in her pockets, "Is Kit short for something? Like Kitty?" Raven asked, cringing on the inside of have to use such a…juvenile word.

"Kitten." She replied, a hint of annoyance discernable in her tone. Raven smiled, no, more like _smirked_ in victory.

"Sorry, my mistake." Raven answered, seating herself at the card table.

But one thought struck her mind; did Kitten know who Richard really was? When Robin had to take Kitten to her prom, she had seemed pretty infatuated with him, that is, until her ex-boyfriend Fang showed up. But still, it was possible that she still desired his attention and power over him, and that would explain how she _coincidentally_ ended up working in the same department as Richard did.

Then this train of thought led to another. She remembered how incredibly jealous Starfire was of that one date, and how much she could sympathize with the alien. Secretly, Raven had been burning up on the inside; and all hell had threatened to break loose with her emotions. Jealousy, that green little demon, was stark raving mad at the thought of that pink little _bitch_ getting anywhere near Robin.

She had had quite a rough week after the entire incident had blown over.

After everyone that was there was seated around the table, Robbie began dealing the cards.

"The game's BS, we'll go clockwise starting with Gina." At the announcement of the game, Raven relaxed a bit. She had figured they'd play some rule-infested game like Euchre that completely befuddled her mind. But BS she could handle. In fact, the Titans had played often, usually with either herself or Robin winning, unless Beast Boy tried to cheat.

The first 'bull shit' came at Kit's supposed two nines, and was ratted out by Shannon. Raven assumed that either that was a lucky guess, or she had three nines, since Raven had one of them. But Kit's facial expression was priceless. She was half-way between a deep menacing scowl and a plastic smile, and the effect on her face made her look like an incredibly ugly lawn gnome.

"So what's the topic of discussion tonight?" Robbie asked, laying down two Queens. "And please don't revert back to Richard _again_."

"Rae has a little thing going with him." Shannon commented slyly, looking at Raven over her cards.

Gina and Kit stared at her, gawking. Raven opened her mouth in protest, her face turning a lovely shade of red.

"No I don't." she muttered, not meeting any of their eyes. Shannon grinned like the Cheshire cat and laid down three Kings.

"Oh no, of course you don't." She said sarcastically. "Then why did I see a beautiful vase filled with dried roses sitting on your table?" Raven's faced reddened even more and she stared down at her cards.

"Bull shit" she replied, staring at Shannon, and smirking triumphantly. Shannon muttered something to herself and unwillingly gathered the hefty pile of cards in the center.

Just then the buzzer rang, and Kit answered it.

"Hey, it's Gary, lemme up." Raven's heart leapt at the sound of his voice, and she smiled; he had _finally_ shown up.

The door opened and Raven nearly laughed at how tan Gary was. His bleached blonde hair clashed interestingly with his dark skin, and his brown eyes still had their mischievous sparkle to them. But other than the skin, absolutely nothing had changed.

"Hey everybody!" Gary exclaimed, removing his jacket and tossing it on the pile that now consumed the couch.

Everybody said some form of 'hi' back and Gary settled himself down in the empty chair next to Raven.

"Rae! I haven't seen you in forever!" he whispered as cards were dealt to him. Raven couldn't help but smile; Gary was just one of those people that instantly lit up a room when he entered, kind of like an explosion of good karma that wouldn't let you be anything but hyperactively happy.

"Hey Gary, how was your trip?" Raven asked, laying down two threes, even though they were on Jacks.

"Oh it was just wonderful, I'll have to show you pictures sometime. But enough about me, what about you? Seems like it's been _ages_ since we last had a good talk." He laid down three cards. "What's up?"

Raven called bull shit on Gina's supposed 3 aces, "Oh, nothing much." She replied, smiling.

"'Nothing much' my tan ass." He said. "Who's the guy?" He asked slyly. Raven gaped at him, appalled.

"There _is_ no guy." She insisted, hoping with all her might that Shannon would keep her mouth shut. No such luck.

"There is. And it's _Richard._" Shannon whispered to Gary. Raven elbowed her in the arm violently.

"Really, nothing is going on." She said, glaring at Shannon. "So can we just drop it?" Gary and Shannon shrugged in unison and left the subject alone.

Gary was silent for a few minutes, but couldn't stand the quiet; it was just one of his pet peeves. He slowly twirled Raven's purple hair in his fingers.

"You could use a haircut." He commented. "I could do a super cute look on you."

Raven looked over at him. "Nah, I'm actually trying to grow it out."

It was strange really; she used to hate her hair being long. But she grew to like it quite a lot more than she expected after she lost a bet. ( Shannon had bet Raven that she couldn't go one day without making a sarcastic remark. The only setback was that if she lost, she had to grow out her hair. Needless to say, she lost.) Raven told her friends that she only kept it long because it kept her neck warm in cooler weather. That was, of course, only partially true. She secretly loved the length because when a good wind or even a soft breeze hit her, she loved the way the wind carried her hair and made her feel like she was flying again.

Gary stared at her, surprised. "Really now. Last I remembered you didn't like your hair long."

"Well maybe I'm growing to, eh?" She responded mysteriously, going back to her cards.

"Hey, can I put it on the weather? I want to see if this warm front is here to stay." Raven asked Kit in reference to the television. Kit nodded and Raven changed the channel.

"Sorry Rae, doesn't seem as if you're warm weather is going to be sticking around too long." Shannon said through a mouthful of pretzels.

"Ah well…" Raven responded, reaching for the remote.

Just then, bold red letters reading 'News Break' flashed across the screen and a news reporter came on.

"We've just received urgent news that in the down town vicinity there has been an explosion in an abandoned warehouse off of 5th Street. We'll go to Paul Sutherland live at the scene." The picture switched from the woman to a man standing in front of a fire truck with a blazing building in the background.

"Thank you Theresa. As of now, the authorities are unsure if anyone was actually in the building or injured in the blast. So far, only minor cases of smoke inhalation have been treated for the unfortunate people near the building at the time of the explosion." Paul turned towards the building and the camera man zoomed out on the destruction. Then the picture changed to an over head view. "As you can see from the air, the smoke and flames are like a beacon to the entire city."

"Paul, do the authorities know how the explosion was caused?" Theresa asked as the camera continued the overhead shot of the warehouse.

Raven stood up, almost knocking over the table as she did. Something wasn't right. Who would blow up an empty warehouse? Then it all flooded back. It was a beacon. The bait for a much larger trap. The announcement of an arrival that was never supposed to come.

" Shannon," her friend turned to her. "Where doesRichard live?"

"Why-"

" _Shannon_." Raven interrupted. "This isn't the time. Where does he live?" Shannon's mouth moved silently for a moment.

"Uh, Turner street apartments, room 27." She responded confusedly. Raven grabbed her coat and headed for the door.

"I have to go." She said.

"Wait! Don't you need a ride?" Shannon asked as she walked out the door.

"I'll manage." Raven muttered.

Once in the hallway, Raven made sure no one was coming and silently phased out.

XXXXXX

And so concludes chapter five. I had originally thought that this would be something of a filler, but it was a lot longer (well, on Word at least) than I imagined. Anyhoo…sorry if it was a wee bit slow or boring, but it _was_ supposed to be a filler-thing… Chapter Six will be along in awhile, I just get so damn distracted online. Someone needs to threaten me into typing or something…seriously. I've got the ideas, but I can't put them into words, y'know? So sorry ahead of time if it's a long while until I update again…


	6. While You Were Sleeping

Questions to be answered, and more to be created. Enjoy.

WARNING: This chapter contains a lemon. It may not be very good, but it's _definitely_ a lemon. Not sure if I should up the rating, but some feedback on that would be good.

Disclaimer: I own nothing not previously owned by muah.

Oh yeah, sorry for the cliffhanger on the last chapter, but it had to be done. There isn't one on here, but the next has a huge one. Just trying to prepare you.

XXXXXX

**A Time Again **

**Chapter Six: While You Were Sleeping **

XXXXXX

Raven reappeared in a dark apartment, where the only source of light was the television. In front of the bright screen stood Richard, his attention focused intently on the news of the explosion. He occasionally changed to another news station to see if there were any new updates, but was sadly disappointed. No one knew who or what caused the explosion, save for the two of them.

His change in position escaped her vision, but he must have sensed her there somehow. His defense reflexes were extraordinary, and faster than she had ever seen anyone move, Richard and whirled around and flung the remote at her at an intense speed.

A black aura surrounded the hurtling object and stopped it about a foot from Raven's face. She shook her head slightly, wondering what a remote would have done to an intruder, or _him._

Raven flicked on the lights and grabbed the remote from its current bindings. Richard relaxed at the sight that it was only her.

"This is yours." She said, tossing him the remote, which he caught perfectly.

"What are you-?"

"Doing here?" Raven finished for him, walking over. "Stopping you from doing something stupid." She looked into his eyes, but they were perfectly masked with a hard façade that had been mastered over the years. Richard stepped past her.

"You don't need to be." He said, walking into the other room. Raven followed him.

"Uh, yeah, Robin, I obviously do." She stopped in the doorway of his bedroom. "So what was your plan? Go out to the building and just happen to randomly find Slade roaming about like a stupid sitting duck?" He said nothing, just stood at his window, his warm breath creating a foggy cloud on the cool glass. Raven could feel the annoyance creeping on, and couldn't help but feel like these were the old days where Robin's crazed obsession just kept deepening.

"You know damn well what blowing that building up was for, and going out there will do nothing. He's not there; he probably never was in the first place. There's nothing to see but ashes and what's left of the warehouse." She stopped, wanting to go on, to rant about how stupid and obsessed he was being, but she didn't want to push so far she wouldn't be able to bounce back. She walked over to him and placed her hand on his arm.

"Hey, we both know this is only a warning. Whatever happens next is up to Slade. All we can do is sit back and wait for him to come." Richard said nothing and continued to stare out the window. Raven turned him towards her.

"I don't want this to be like before. _Please_ don't shut me out. I know you could probably take down Slade on your own, but…I need you to know you don't have to." She leaned up and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "_I'm always here."_ She whispered, turning to go.

Richard caught her by the arm and turned her around towards him. Before Raven could say anything his lips met hers with a wild passion that had finally burst forth after years of containment.

Fire coursed hot through her veins. This seemed wrong; she had found him not two days before and felt like she barely knew him. No, that wasn't true; she had known him then. But this was different. It was all too soon, all too – Ah, screw it.

She kissed him back, all the rage and fervor of a lost love rushing back as the dam bottling up old emotions broke.

Their tongues danced enthusiastically in each other's mouths, each savoring the moment.

Time stood still.

Nothing moved.

The noise of the city faded into nothingness as their kiss engulfed them into a vast expansion of only them.

They had both known, unconsciously, on some level that this was going to happen, that it was _meant_ to happen eventually from the moment they met. Raven had come to realize it sooner, but then both of their dreams crashed and burned the day she left. But they both knew that somehow, some way, they would find each other again.

This was that day.

They broke apart for a brief moment and stared into each other's eyes, unconsciously submitting to the urging that grew within each by the passing minute.

Somehow, amidst the wild passion and crazed kissing they managed to discard their clothes and move to the bed; time remaining at its standstill.

Both silently consented to their will and let the passion overrun them. Richard met Raven's lips again, his weight pressing warmly against her.

He slowly entered her, pushing past her walls, breaking her. Raven gasped slightly and arched her back to meet him.

He was going where no one had gone before.

Raven's head reeled with a myriad of emotions she never dreamed to feel all at once. At first, there was pain, then that settled down to intense comfort and pleasure. Richard thrust into her harder and faster, and his lips met hers, ardently and wildly stealing her breath away.

Their two bodies rocked as one as their fervor erupted into silver fireworks that danced in their minds. When at last he couldn't be contained, Richard climaxed and spilled out into Raven, and she onto him.

Then they fell still, their bodies and spirits spent. Richard rolled next to Raven and gently stroked her cheek. Her amaranthine eyes sparkled brightly in the moonlight streaming in from outside. She leaned forward and kissed him deeply, lingering near his warm body and dwelling in his scent a moment longer. Raven broke off and rolled over, extremely content and practically exploding from happiness inside. Richard moved closer and wrapped and arm around her waist, his fingers unconsciously interlacing with hers, as exhaustion finally claimed them.

XXXXXX

SQUEE! I'm extremely excited right now. Why, you ask? Well…I've thought up a plot for the sequel, and I must say, it. Is. _Good._ Not meaning to brag, but the very thought of what's going to happen makes me squeal and jump around like after I read Insanity 101's stories…But it won't be out for a verdy long time, owing to the fact that I'm only on chapter six with this… But I'm sure you'll love it. Very, _very_ much. I'm not sure what genre it's going to be, but not like I'd tell you to give away anything, eh?

But anyhoo…I have to say, this chapter made me really nervous. I dunno, I've read lemons before, but writing them is wayy different. This sort of feels like initiation into the world of writing, if that makes any sense. If you can write a lemon, you can publish a book. >> Sorry, I'll shut up now. Hopefully it didn't suck, since it was my first.

Well, hope you enjoyed it and please drop a review my way. Until later.


	7. Domino

Wow. Sorry this took sooo incredibly long to update. I've been thinking about the sequel more and more, which is bad for now at least. It'll be good when I get there though…but besides that all I can say for myself is _distractions._

Disclaimer: Do I really even need to put this here any more?

Sorry for being so short last time guys, but I didn't want to ruin the moment by adding more crap.

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**A Time Again **

**Chapter Seven: Domino **

XXXXXX

Raven rolled over slowly in her light dose, unconsciously searching for a more comfortable position. It was morning, which she knew, but didn't want to get up. The warmth and comfort of the bed made up her mind nicely and she sighed happily, slipping deeper into sleep.

A weight was added to the bed and someone slipped their arms around her. Startled, Raven opened her eyes and didn't recognize the wall staring back at her.

Well now this wasn't her room.

Then a small light clicked on in her head. _Ah._

Last night. Cards. Bomb. Slade. And _afterwards._ Raven felt herself smiling slightly. Afterwards was _good._

She rolled over and stared into Richard's smirking face.

"Morning." He whispered, pulling her into a deep kiss. Raven nearly melted in his arms.

Now, she wasn't usually so…caught up by one thing, but did he smell _divine. _His still slightly damp hair tickled her face as his kiss went to her neck, and it was all Raven could do to not go any further.

"What time is it?" she murmured, pulling away slightly.

"Nine." He responded, smirking. Raven leaned back on her elbows, dumbfounded.

"Seriously?" Richard nodded, that childish smile still splayed on his lips. Raven sighed dismally. "I'm sorry, but I've got to get to work. Who knows what hell has been let loose." His smile grew, and he kissed her again.

"I'm sure everything's fine. But I've got to go as well." He got off of the bed and went back into the bathroom. Raven got up also and quickly dressed.

"What do you think we should do about Shannon?" Richard called from the bathroom. "She's bound to ask questions."

God, Raven hadn't even thought of Shannon. Then she remembered the way she had left last night, and new there would be a _lot_ of uncomfortable questions.

"Um, how about we just lie for now." Raven responded, walking into the bathroom. "I hate doing it, but I think the excitement might kill her. She's been trying to set me up for years."

Richard pulled her into his arms and stared into her amethyst orbs. "Fine by me." He said softly. He bent down to kiss her and Raven, smirking playfully, phased through the floor.

X

When Raven finally made it into work, it was going on ten, and that was rush hour for the store.

She again blessed David for having opened up for her, and she could tell her employees were silently raising questions about her later arrivals. They noticed that this week was different, special almost, and that whatever it was, it had made Raven late. And Raven had never been late or absent. Excluding that one night when Shannon and Gary had taken her to the opening of a bar and she had had one too many shots and didn't get up until three the next day; and even then, had a hangover that felt like it was killing her. Since then, she had made doubly sure to watch how much she drank.

Still, the workers smirked to themselves, or just raised an eyebrow and moved on. Raven ignored the questioning stares, of course, and went about her usual business.

"Wow she's cheerful." David muttered to Justine as he helped her unpack some books.

Justine looked over at Raven, who was humming to herself while loading more books onto the shelves.

"She probably got laid." She responded, smirking. David grinned back.

"About time." They both chuckled to themselves.

X

Around 11:30, Shannon stopped by on her lunch, keen on getting some answers to her pressing questions.

She found Raven in the back room looking for a brand of coffee beans and cleared her throat loudly.

Raven looked up. "Oh, hey." Shannon leaned against the door frame, a mischievous look on her face.

"You sure left in a hurry last night."

Raven stopped. _And thus the questions come…_She never figured Shannon would want to know so soon. But of course, Shannon just wouldn't be Shannon without her insatiable curiosity.

Raven continued her searching, her back towards Shannon. "Yeah, I remembered something I had to tell someone." She responded slowly.

"So why did you want to know where Richard lived then?" Shannon pried deeper. Raven groaned to herself and straightened.

"Yeah, I had to tell Richard something."

"Right…Well, you just keep your little secret _for now._" Shannon commented, giving Raven a smirky look she didn't like.

Raven sighed, "It's the truth." _Well, part of it. _But no amount of reassurance would ever convince Shannon of otherwise. Her friend was just too damn smart when it came to discerning the truth. That and Raven's lying skills were complete crap.

Shannon snorted quietly and bid Raven goodbye, that little smirk still present on her lips.

X

Raven left work (with David in charge) and went to get groceries earlier than normal. Surprisingly, she felt exhausted and just wanted to go home and sleep until the next millennium. It seemed that with all that had happened so far this week had deprived her of sleep more than any night in Titan's Tower had ever done.

She bought the basic ingredients for simple meals and a few snacks for in between. Everything was easy to cook, or didn't require cooking, but merely heating up. Bags in hand, Raven began to walk back to her apartment, which was only two blocks away.

Once back home, Raven dropped her keys in the dish on a table next to the door and walked into the kitchen.

Someone watched her from the shadows, their gaze never leaving Raven's moving figure. At the opportune moment, a thickly gloved hand shot out and clasped itself over Raven's mouth. She struggled, but her actions were futile; her captor's grip was a strong as iron, and there was no way she could escape through strength, but possibly strategy would work.

Raven fainted, or pretended to and her captor loosened their grip on her. She opened her eyes and saw a white cloth still pressed against her mouth. It was undoubtedly covered in some knock-out gas and if she wanted to stay conscious long, she'd have to act quickly. Raven dropped to the floor from their hands and aimed a vicious, unexpected kick at their knees. He fell to the ground with a grunt and Raven scrambled away into the next room.

She had seen him, his _face _and had come for _her_ for some reason. Heart pounding, she thought up a plan. She needed to get to the door and get outside where he wouldn't dare come after her. Raven steadied her breathing and listened; nothing. That was what worried her. She'd have to do this the old-fashioned way, since her mind was too out of focus to attempt to phase through walls.

It was now or never.

Raven ran silently to the kitchen and pressed herself in the corner. _She could see the door._ She tiptoed along the wall and sped up for the door when he appeared. Raven inhaled sharply as he pressed the white cloth against her mouth and pushed her up against the wall.

"Hello Raven, long time no see." Slade said, the smile on his face evident in his voice. Raven's head reeled and her heart pounded. Now she didn't care if she phased into Mr. Nelson's cluttered apartment below, just as long as it got her _away from Slade_. Trying to not breathe, she cleared her mind as best as she could and melted through the wall behind her and into the living room.

Woozy from the knock-out gas, Raven stumbled for the door but Slade caught her by the wrist. Desperately, Raven wrenched her arm away with all her strength and tripped. She fell directly on her coffee table, hitting her head and then slumping on the ground unconscious, a large welt on her head trickling small amounts of blood. Slade walked over and gathered her up in his arms.

Not quite what he expected, but the outcome would work.

XXXXXX

Well, I hope that was enough of a cliffy for you. Now..what could Slade want with Raven? Hmm...have fun.

Now, as for the next chapter, I'm going to try to post it up before my spring break, which I get to leave on April 7th. I'm going to Europe, so I will be without access to a computer for a week or so. Well, until the 17th at least. I will try to write, but, well…it all depends. So sorry if the next comes really late, but I'll try to not let that happen. k?


	8. Nightmare

So...the last chapter was lame at the end so I spruced it up a bit more. Nothing major, just a little detail here and there that shouldn't affect much except you might go 'huh?' in later chapters if you don't go back and reread the ending. So yeah, sorry about the original lameness.

Disclaimer: Seriously?

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**A Time Again**

**Chapter Eight: Nightmare**

XXXXXX

Richard checked his watch. It was 5:30, and figuring that Raven would probably still be at work, he decided to pay her a visit.

He was unnaturally cheerful today, and everyone seemed to notice. Shannon had even been so bold as to ask slyly how things were going with him and Raven. He, of course, ignored her just as Raven had, and only furthered Shannon's suspicions of her two friends. But despite a rightly nosy Shannon, his day was going quite well. Nothing worth mentioning in the business world; his head wasn't even close to being down to earth and he had hardly paid attention all day. But the day was pleasantly cool with a crisp breeze coming from the South and bringing along a tingle of the spring to come.

In fact, he was in such a good mood that he didn't think anything in the world could bring him down.

X

When he arrived at the shop, one of the workers, David, said that she had left about two hours ago. Richard thanked him and left, dialing Raven's cell phone number while he went. She didn't answer and he just figured it must be off. No worries.

As he left the shop Richard dialed for her apartment and only received the cold answer of her answering machine. _No worries._

Frowning, Richard dialed Shannon's cell phone hoping she had heard from her.

"Sorry Richard, but I haven't heard from her." Shannon replied to his question. "I did call her around four-ish and no one answered then." Richard thanked her and hung up, pressing down on the gas pedal a little harder.

There was nothing to be worried about. He was being paranoid. Of course, now that Slade was back there definitely was a reason to be paranoid, but what would he want with her? Richard was pretty sure that Slade didn't know Raven was still around these parts, and only wanted him.

But what if he _did _know? What _if_ he had somehow taken Raven right from under his nose?

Richard shook his head as if to clear out those terrible thoughts. He could play the 'what if' game for hours on end, and it would get him nowhere. He would just go up to her apartment and find her there asleep or something and everything would be alright.

_But would it? _

Richard pulled up to the apartment complex and walked inside and up the stairs. He knocked loudly on the door and his heart dropped when it opened with a sickening creak.

He knew then that no one would be there.

Pushing the door all the way open, Richard stepped inside and met with a heart wrenching sight. The table nearest to the door lay on its side, the plate that must have been on it shattered and its contents littering the sparkling aquamarine glass. A few feet past that in the kitchen a brown shopping bag lay on the floor, its contents strewn about. Vibrant oranges had rolled about and he glimpsed more than one box of tea in the knocked over bag.

That's when he noticed the television.

The channel was switched to the news, where yet another bomb had been located in a warehouse. The news reporter said that it had just been discovered, and the bomb squad was still figuring a way in to disable the explosive. As of now, no new leads had been uncovered as to regarding who had placed these bombs and why.

But this time it wasn't a warning, or a beacon screaming an ill return.

It was a message.

And now it said _I've got her, and now I'm coming for you._

Richard swore loudly. He should have seen this coming. Of _course_ Slade would know about him and Raven, however small the connection had been. He always knew what wasn't meant to be known, and twisted it to his bastardly advantage. He should have known he would go for her, and not for him. She was his weakness, his only flaw that could strip him down bare into a bumbling coward. And Slade knew this. Slade had always seemed to know his secret weakness that was never exposed to anyone. And he exploited it _every single time._

He punched the wall violently, denting it in slightly. This was_ his_ entire fault. He—

The buzzer went off. Someone was downstairs wanting to get in. Cautious and a little puzzled, Richard went over to the door and asked who it was through the intercom.

"Richard, is that you?" Richard was taken aback. It was Shannon. He let her in, unsure of what to do or say.

"What are you doing here?" She asked as she came in the door. Richard ceased his pacing and ran a slightly shaking hand through his hair.

"I came looking for Raven." He responded quietly. He shouldn't tell her what had happened; he didn't want any more people hurt.

"What happened here?" Shannon walked towards him, surveying the knocked over table and strewn groceries. "Richard? Where's Raven?"

Damn.

She was smarter than he gave her credit for. No point in hiding it now.

"She...she was taken." He said finally, regretting it almost the moment the words left his mouth. Her eyes widened and Richard cringed.

"Taken? What do you mean _taken_?" She asked, her voice rising. "Like kidnapped?" Richard only nodded. A lump, cold with fury and fear, had taken root in his throat and he couldn't say anything. Not just yet.

"Who the hell would take her? She hasn't done anything wrong and she doesn't have any enemies!" Shannon carried on, distress clearly visible on her face.

_ She has friends with enemies. Dangerous enemies. _

Shannon began searching through her purse and pulled out her cell phone.

"The police wouldn't help." Richard said quietly, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Shannon looked up at him, her eyes on fire. "Yes they _would._ They are trained to handle crap like this and they're the best chance of getting her back."

Richard sighed. Were all women this difficult?

He took the phone and stuffed it back into her purse.

"Listen to me," he said, grabbing her gently by the shoulders, "The police can't help because they'd only get in the way. They don't know where she is, or who has taken her. And they wouldn't know where to look. I _do. _So please, go _home_ and _I will get her back_." He pushed her towards the door.

"But what-"

"_Go._ And tell no one she's gone. _No one_." And he closed the door.

Richard sat down on the couch and ran his hands through his hair out of nervous habit. This was not good. Albeit, he had known that already, but he could think of no reason why Slade would want Raven besides to get to him. And he had no clue why Slade would want to get to him _again._

Richard looked down and sitting next to the coffee table was one of the ripe, vibrant oranges. He bent to pick it up and a dark splotch on the blue rug caught his attention. He ran his fingers over it lightly and when he drew away the tips of them were red.

_She was hurt._

Even though there was no way of knowing it was her blood, he knew it was. She wasn't bleeding a lot, but that didn't mean she had continued to.

Standing up, Richard dropped the orange on the couch and nearly ran for the door.

If Slade wanted him, Slade would get him.

XXXXXX

Yay, I got this done before Spring Break. Hoo-_rah_. Sorry about the lack of length, but I'll save some Nightwing / Slade action until the next chapter. Which you won't get until about three weeks, give or take one. Sorry, but I'm going to be away from a computer for about 10 days and that really puts and damper on my writing. But anyhoo, adios!


	9. Learning

Wowzers...sorry it took so long to update, but, well, you _were_ warned. Just be happy it wasn't any longer, because with me, you guys are lucky I didn't wait another month to update...

Disclaimer: Obviously

XXXXXX

**A Time Again **

**Chapter Nine: Quite a Predicament **

XXXXXX

The sun set in the west, sending its final warm rays creeping through curtains and blinds on the windows of the people of the world. Its last touch on the world called for the day to end, but that it would return soon to light up the sky.

But the sunset didn't touch everyone.

A small soft ray leaked in through a crack on the boarded up windows. It did not fall on anything or anybody, but left its warm mark on the floor.

Raven stirred.

The room she laid in was dark except the little ray of sunshine. Groaning, she rolled over, noting sourly that her hands were bound behind her back. Her head ached terribly and as she winced, Raven could feel the dried blood from the gash on her forehead crackle.

Where was she? Raven didn't know. Her surroundings continued to be cloaked in shadow as the sundipped closer to the horizon. With help from the stream of light, all Raven could discern was that the windows were boarded up and everything was extremely dusty.

The events leading up to her arrival at this old abandoned building were still fuzzy, but quickly clearing up. She had gone back to her apartment and then—

"Good morning Raven."

_Slade_.

She could barely see the outline of his figure as the light glinted off the hard silver of his armor. He reached above his head and pulled a string, turning on a light. Raven closed her eyes against the change in lighting, frowning when she received purple spots in her vision. She blinked away the spots and glared up at him.

"What do you want _this_ time?" Raven spat, struggling slightly against her bindings. "Because whatever it is, you should know by now you aren't going to get it. Let's count up the failures, Slade. You've managed to loose two apprentices, you got burned to death another time and then you were nearly blown up. One would think you'd have learned something by now."

Slade chuckled softly.

"And I have Raven, rest assured I have. By each failure I have learned something new. But tell me Raven, what have you learned? Each time you and your lost comrades have tried to stop me, what have _you_ learned?"

Raven said nothing, only stared at the floor. She'd let him gloat his new knowledge, whatever it may be, let him monologue his accomplishments, but he wouldn't be conscious long enough to continue talking of them.

Raven fingered the ropes binding her hands. Slade had gotten messy, and had once again greatly underestimated her. She focused her power on loosening the bindings when white-hot pain exploded in her head. The onslaught was so sudden that Raven loosed a short cry of pain.

Slade laughed quietly again as red stars danced in front of Raven's eyes. Her head throbbed painfully and a cold sheet of fear washed over her.

"Ah, yes." Slade commented rather cheerfully, "I see you learn quickly." He stared down at her, commanding her attention, but Raven didn't meet his eye. "I _learned_ this little trick from your father. It was a...backup plan if you didn't cooperate."

Raven tried again, unwilling to believe he could have caught her so easily. She bit her lip in agony as the searing pain returned; but she did not cry out this time. But it was no use; she would destroy her mind before she could ever get loose. The metallic taste of blood reached her tongue where it had leaked out of the bite marks in her lips, and a little trickled down her chin.

Slade smiled behind his mask, savoring her pain and the power he now had over her. He turned off the light and turned away, heading for the door.

"Now you've learned something." He added quietly, opening the door and closing it behind him.

Raven silently let out a string of vulgar Tamaranian curses that would make Starfire proud. She couldn't use her powers, couldn't contact Richard, and had no clue what Slade was up to. Which was _never_ a good thing.

But she _did_ know where she was, and the thought that _Slade_ now occupied the place horrified her.

When Slade had lit up the room, the light barely spread to the walls, but it was enough. Then, she hadn't been sure. There could be _tons_ of rooms that looked like that one in the city, if she still _was_ in the city.

But then he had opened the door and nearly everything had been nicely illuminated.

She had seen broken glass cases on block columns lining the walls. The cases that had been in the center of the room were either destroyed or removed.

She was in the safe room where all recovered items of villains had been stored.

_In Titan's Tower._

XXXXXX

Nightwing jumped from rooftop to rooftop, the cool night wind blowing against his face and lifting his hair in front of his vision. He paid no notice to anything around him save for where he would jump next.

_Almost there._

He could see the revolving red and blue lights from police cars flickering against the bricked walls of nearby buildings. The air was filled with shouts, either of distress, curiosity or demanding order.

When he finally reached the abandoned building closest to the warehouse nearly complete and utter chaos met his penetrating gaze. Yellow tape hung semi-tight between buildings and waved and snapped from the wind. Groups of curious onlookers gathered behind the boundary lines and whispered amongst themselves at what could be going on.

His attention was directed above when a helicopter, undoubtedly a news helicopter, flew over head, creating even more wind and noise than was needed. Several armored trucks labeled 'Bomb Squad' were packed into the rundown parking lot of the warehouse and four S.W.A.T. trucks lined the edges of the asphalt. A S.W.A.T team, heavily armed with automatic rifles and at least one shot gun each, guarded a blockade where approaching emergency vehicles had to check in to enter the area.

Amongst the chaos riddled groups of emergency technicians and police force, fire engines randomly littered the premises along with at least two ambulances.

Behind the throngs of people were parked at the most three news reported vans, all with various reporters standing along side them and doing their job.

_Good, _Nightwing thought as he edged closer to the side of the building, _this will pose a good enough distraction._

No one would even notice him.

Without a backward glance Nightwing jumped gracefully and silently down the rusty fire escape and surveyed his route.

He approached the warehouse from the side, down an alley, where he would be least likely to be noticed. There was no fire escape, and every window was either barred or paned with heavy thick glass. As far as he could tell, every known entrance into the warehouse was being watched by police force or S.W.A.T. This made his entrance a little more challenging, but not even near impossible.

Climbing back up the fire escape until he was positioned on the roof again, Nightwing took four long strides backwards and ran for the edge. His leap was clean and silent and unnoticed by all. He lightly touched down onto the warehouse roof and dove into a roll to slow his momentum.

Lingering in the crouching position, Nightwing edged across the roof, wary of the occasionally passing helicopter in case someone might see him and take it the _very_ wrong way.

Now he knew that somewhere there was either a skylight with only slightly strengthened glass, not the wavy thick stuff lining the windows, or a hatch that would lead into the darkened interiors below. Just which one he would find, he didn't know. And he hoped it was the hatch because if it was glass he'd have to break it and risk drawing uncomfortable attention upon himself.

And of course, there was glass.

Silently cursing, Nightwing looked around him for a big heavy object and found a rusty old piped lying next to a big pile of long rusty pipes.

He peered into the darkness below, trying to discern if the drop was large or small. A faint light shone to the right, illuminating teetering piles of crates, some empty, some full. The drop was manageable.

Grimacing, he struck the glass heavily twice and it shattered noisily and dropped to the dusty floor with a violent crash. Hopefully, no one had heard the racket and Nightwing relied on the clamor from the crowd below to drown out the sound.

Suddenly remembering why he was here and who had brought him here, Nightwing jumped into the opening his heart beating with fury and anxiety.

The glass crunched beneath his boots as he landed and turned around, trying to see into the shadows.

"Hello _Robin._" A cheerful, but empty, voice said from the shadows.

Nightwing slowly turned around, his anger lingering close, far too close to the surface. Slade stepped forward, seeming to materialize right out of the shadows.

"Ah, I suppose I should call you _Nightwing_ now."

_His tone._ Nightwing clenched his fists tightly his arms almost shaking with the effort it took to keep from lunging at Slade. Beating Slade to death would not tell him where Raven was. He might have _done_ something to her that he couldn't reverse, that only Slade could reverse. No, for now, control your anger.

"Where is she?" Nightwing spat hating himself for having to actually ask the question, knowing that Slade wouldn't tell him even if it was in his dying breath. Slade _enjoyed _this power, this hold he had gained over Nightwing and he knew it was _killing_ him.

"I believe _where_ she is is hardly significant compared to _how _she is." Slade said, emphasizing the hidden meaning with all the silent evil that lurked within him. Nightwing's heart skipped a beat and his clenched fists loosened at those words. _Those words_. They could mean everything or nothing at all.

"If you lay one hand on her so help me-" He started, having an increasing difficulty to keep himself from lunging at the lunatic.

"An empty threat and you know it. She's no good to me dead. Incapacitated however..." Slade waved his hand in the air, signaling the unspoken threat.

Nightwing was cornered into defeat and both of them knew it. He had to back down. Slade could hurt Raven and he could never live with himself if that happened. But what scared him the most was how Slade was able to subdue her.

"What do you want?" Nightwing asked through gritted teeth.

_beep_

Slade stopped from answering at the small sound.

"Ah, we have visitors."

Nightwing swung around to look at the padlocked door. He could vaguely hear sounds of muffled talking and shuffling around on the other side.

"Until next time, Nightwing." Slade added quietly, almost at a whisper.

When Nightwing turned back around, he was gone.

He swore silently, berating himself for letting Slade get away _again._ But there was no time to go after him.

There was a bomb somewhere in this building and the police on their way in.

It wouldn't look so good if they found a mysterious masked man standing in the middle of everything.

_Time to go._

Quickly, Nightwing scaled a pile of dangerously teetering crates and jumped, grabbing a chain before he plummeted to the floor.

_They were in._

As fast as he could manage, he dragged himself back through the broken skylight as shouts rang out behind him.

_He was seen._

Nightwing ran, no longer caring if the news helicopter saw him or if the people on the ground did.

He ran and jumped, completing the same pattern he had on his way over. People saw him, but he ran on. Some thought he was just a shadow, other a criminal, most never noticed.

He didn't stop until he reached his apartment.

XXXXXX

Teehee. Sorry for lack of depth and action, but hey, what can you do? Actually, little, I do all the plot writing. But honestly, I'm _uber_ sorry you had to wait so long to get this chapter. That's why it may not be the best, since I wanted to get it to you guys as fast as possible. Though it was still incredibly slow. o.o' That and I was a little review-starved. teh. Anyhoo, prepare for the nearly-drawing end. I'd say maybe three more chapters, give or take one. And I still haven't typed anything up in regards to the sequel, but my ideas are just dropping out of my head. It's insane. :D Anyhoo, later!


	10. Scattered Contact

Yay. Thanks for all the reviews guys. Wow, I'm really sucking on the whole updating thing. Terribly sorry. Exams are getting closer (next week!) and me mother has been nagging at me to get my bloody grades up. But, once exams are over, summer! Yay. So then I'll be able to update more. Unless I'm too lazy. Remember the factors people.

Yeah...so this was supposed to be a filler, then it got long. So maybe the next one will be shorter.

Only two more chapters to go people!

Disclaimer: Up here for those that are clearly oblivious

XXXXXX

**A Time Again **

**Chapter Ten: Scattered Contact **

XXXXXX

When Raven had finally collapsed into an uneasy sleep from exhaustion and despair, she had not been able to come up with a sufficient plan on how she was going to escape.

Or be rescued.

Still unable to fully give up on her ability to use her powers, Raven tried several more tries to untie the binds by way of magic and manual handling.

Neither had worked.

Raven realized minutes before she fell asleep that she grew weaker with every attempt to escape. The ropes, (silly useless ropes!) and the power entrusted to them seemed to be _absorbing_all the power she used to break the bindings. And then turned and used on to prevent her from escaping. So with a silent cry of anguish she ceased her escape attempts.

x

When Raven reawakened, the room was still completely devoid of light and hope. She wondered miserably what Slade would do with her now, utterly surprising herself at her lack of optimism.

Raven was being stupid, and she knew it too.

When she was with the Titans, they had been in far worse situations and had still overcome the obstacles.

_But she had her powers then. _

Raven sighed and looked around, trying to discern anything in the silent stillness. The smallest amount of light possible shone in from under the door. From the tiny sliver she could barely detect what looked like a small plate or bowl.

Food.

Raven snorted softly and couldn't possibly begin to wonder how Slade expected her to eat it.

Probably just with her mouth. Like a dog.

How demeaning.

Well, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of lowering her to that level. And she could only imagine what sort of drugs he had pumped the food with.

No, she wouldn't eat. Or drink.

She would wait. And plan.

But what? Without her powers, there wasn't even the slimmest of chances that she could escape without Nightwing's help, and even that would be difficult and far fetched. He would somehow have to find her before that.

_A plan…_

Ropes. All that bound her was ropes. And she hoped that the spell blocking her powers wouldn't block the ropes from being cut or destroyed. Then maybe, just _maybe_ she could get her powers back and contact Nightwing

It was a slim chance, but it was worth trying out.

Slowly, Raven rolled over on her side so she could stand up and even more slowly climbed to her knees. Her head swam nauseatingly but she ignored it and pushed herself to her feet with a quiet grunt.

Her legs, so used to being cut off from proper circulation didn't function correctly. Raven managed to take about two wobbly steps to her right before her legs gave out and she fell to the floor and was knocked unconscious.

x

Raven reawakened to the muffled sounds of Slade coming into the room. Groaning, she rolled off her hands and heard the scraping sound of glass on concrete. Scrambling upright despite her body's protests, Raven quickly snatched up the glass shard in her hands just as Slade stepped though the door.

His boot kicked the metal plate and it skittered a little ways across the dusty floor.

"Taking a hunger strike, are we?" Raven said nothing, just stared at him with all the loathing in the world and struggled with her natural instinct to throw him across the room with her powers.

"Not talking either? Well, at least you haven't killed yourself. You're no good to me dead." He added and walked out the door.

Raven let loose the breath she hadn't realized she was holding and concentrated on the shard clasped in her bound hands.

Gripping in tightly, Raven slowly began to drag the sharpest edge along the coarse rope. The glass bit into her skin and by now her hands were dripping warm blood, but she ignored the pain and continued on.

As the sharp edge slowly began to cut though the many strands that made up the rope, Raven could feel the spell restraining her powers grow weaker and more confused, its hold over her powers weakening as each strand was severed. Even though its hold was diluted and confused by this turn of events, it still bit and stabbed at Raven's mind as she tried desperately to free herself, though its attempts were significantly less menacing than before.

Mental communication was the simplest thing Raven could do with her powers and the single thing that took the least amount of power to accomplish. By now her strength was waning due to her lack of food and constant but weak attacks on her mind so she'd have to act quickly with the least amount of power possible.

With a sigh of relief she stopped sawing at the rope, the cuts on her hands becoming more evident as the pain she had been blocking rushed back.

Raven didn't bother to focus her communication link to Nightwing, she no longer cared. He'd receive her message and that's all that mattered. She only sent out three words; the only three words that mattered.

_Night...wing...Tower...**help**... _

It echoed, reverberated throughout the city, touching every sleeping or awake mind. All heard Raven's plea for help and sympathized with the agony and fear in her voice. A select few remembered a name long buried or forgotten but paid no heed to it; the coincidence was far too large to ever been considered.

But one did not sympathize. One enjoyed the pain lurking in the depths of that cry for aid, but was not at all pleased with it.

Slade briskly, angrily, strode towards where Raven was being held, his anger nearly radiating off him in waves of stark red. He was nevertheless surprised at her persistence. Again, Slade had clearly underestimated her and that was a chance he was not willing to take again. More difficult measures would have to be taken to make sure she would not be able to send another one of her SOS messages via thoughts again.

When he burst through the door Raven was kneeling on the floor clutching what looked to be a shard of glass in her hands. She looked up at him, the utter loathing still present, but now accompanied by weariness and pain. He strode over to her and hauled her to her feet by the neck and slammed her mercilessly against the wall. To his satisfaction she cried out in pain and dropped the glass shard, but still stared defiantly at him.

"Your little message, however important you think it may be, was for nothing. I would have led your little _boyfriend_ here eventually and then _destroyed_ him with you to watch. Now you've only sped up the inevitable and altered my plans."

Raven's heart thudded loudly in her chest as dread dawned on her. Slade could see her added suffering and smiled behind his mask.

"But you _will not_ interrupt again." He added menacingly, flipping her around so her face was knocked against the wall.

The damage to the ropes was minimal and not enough to worry about. He strengthened the spell again and again in his mind, making sure that there was no possible way for Raven to escape. Even if she did manage to claim hold of a sharp object to try and cut through her bindings again, the spell was strong enough now to stab at her mind with a ferocity that hadn't been felt by her before.

_Losing your touch...? _

Raven's cynical voice popped into his mind. Though weak and broken, the comment did its task and irked Slade more than he expected. He looked back at her face and she was staring back at him, a knowing smile playing on her lips. Slade knew the comment had pained her terribly by the look in her eyes, but it had evidentially been worth it. _Bitch..._

Slade pulled her away from the wall and nearly dragged her the entire way down the stairs and finally into the basement.

He could have taken the elevator, considering it actually still worked, but that would have been too...easy.

Letting Raven drop to the floor on account to her own weariness, Slade pulled a shiny pair of handcuffs from one of the many pockets on his belt and cuffed Raven to the stairwell.

Taking one last look at her drooping and exhausted form, Slade retreated back up the stairs to fast forward his plans.

X

The one day that Raven had been gone, Richard had taken extreme measures to make sure that no one suspected anything out of the ordinary. He had personally gone to her shop and talked to a man named David, saying that Raven was down with strep throat and couldn't talk, so she had stayed home.

There had been no questions asked and no concerns or alerts raised. It was as if no one cared. Richard knew that this was of course not true, it was just that, truth be told, the situation unnerved him and it felt like Raven had been completely erased from the earth.

The only person he really had to worry about was Shannon, who always seemed to find excuses to come into his office and constantly ask if he had found Raven or had learned anything new about her whereabouts. He repeated reassured her that if he did, she would be the first to know.

But he had learned nothing. Absolutely and frighteningly nothing. And that was what scared him the most. He was supposed to learn something from Slade the other night, but had been interrupted by the police. Unless Slade had planned that somehow.

If that were true, this was all another one of his mind games. This was one of his plans to get into Richard's head and mess around in there until he cracked.

He had never cracked before, but then again, he had never had anyone he loved in danger this great.

x

The day after Raven's urgent message had been sent out; Richard was getting more frantic by the hour. Minute, even. He was on edge, and everyone around him stayed well out of his way. If the unfortunate mail clerk or secretary happened across his path, they were either glowered or yelled at and then unanimously ignored by most everyone.

Of course, everyone was a little out of sorts today. Raven's plea had been heard by everyone, remembered by few, and had all altered their dreams significantly.

It wasn't until Richard was just finishing up some things at work and the sun was sinking lower in the sky when he remembered his dream.

And the significance of it.

The message echoed back in his mind.

_Nigh...Nightwi...Nightwing...Tower...**help**..._

Richard paused in horror. She was…at Titan's Tower. He didn't fail to see the incredible irony in this.

Without a second though, he sprung up from his seat and ran to his car, paying no attention to the people gawking at him as he went.

_She was at the Tower..._

XXXXXX

I'm no longer going to place a final message here. Well, unless needed. I think it takes away from everything. (of course, I might forget I ever said this the next time I post a chapter)


	11. Raven's Note

Sheee! Tah, don't mind my random noises. Wow, thanks a carp load guys for all the reviews. But I've only a couple to respond to regarding the same thing.

As for the rest of the Titans, just wait for them. Just wait. –maniacal laughter-

Anyhoo. I decided to compensate for my lack of updatage and give you an insanely long chapter. (by my standards)

Enjoy.

XXXXXX

**A Time Again **

**Chapter Eleven: Raven's Note **

XXXXXX

After Slade managed to half-drag Raven down to the basement she collapsed into unconsciousness, the occasional nauseating peck at her mind being the only thing reminding her that she was still alive. She slept restlessly through the rest of the night and nearly all of the next day, and awakened in the lonely darkness with only a sliver of her strength renewed.

Slowly, Raven shifted into a more comfortable position, her legs throbbing painfully as she tried to revive the circulation in them. She couldn't and didn't have any idea how long she had been unconscious and the prospect unsettled her. How long had it been since she had called out? How long had it been since she had been dragged down here, half conscious?

_How long? _

Raven closed her eyes and learned her head back against the railing. Had Nightwing come? Had he even heard her call? What if Slade had managed to capture him? What if he was hurt?

What if he was _dead? _

No, Raven shook her head. He wouldn't be dead; Slade would want them to experience one of them dying in front of the other's eyes. So no, he wasn't dead. Not yet.

Raven sighed and tried to move her wrists and the metal handcuffs clinked loudly against the railing. Before all of this, the very idea of being restrained with handcuffs was laughable. _Now..._

Raven opened up her balled fists and cried out sharply. The blood had dried in the shape of her fist and was now acting liking a glue, sticking raw bloody skin to healthy skin. But now she had broken the seal and blood began to pour freely from the open wounds.

What was happening to her? She used to have such a high tolerance for pain and now...now she was feeling like a...

_Like a mortal... _

Her powers had shielded much of the physical pain she had to endure. Without them, she was _normal._ Defenseless, _weak. _

This was the second time Raven had preferred Death, _felt_ Death, and one time had been enough. Well, her father had finally gotten what her had always wanted, even if it was a little late in the game. Here she was, broken, diminished, wounded and as defenseless as a new born kitten.

Raven sucked in a breath of air as her mind was stabbed at by the power in the ropes. These infrequent prodding's annoyed Raven the most of this whole mess. It was like she was being mocked, laughed at, and she loathed the feeling. But what could she do? She-

_Oh do shut up... _

Raven snapped to attention, her eyes wide and curious.

_Intelligence? _Raven asked her mind, surprised.

Her emotions had been coexisting as one for such a long time that they rarely spoke out alone.

_Yes, yes it's me. _

Raven closed her eyes and looked deep inside her mind...and opened her eyes again. Around her, all of her emotions stood or sat in a half circle with Raven across from them. They were all clothed in the original outfit Raven had worn for so long, (in their colors, of course) and Raven was surprised and pleased to find that she was as well.

She fingered her blue cloak absentmindedly, _So how is this not considered using my powers? _She asked.

Intelligence folded her hands in her lap, _Because we're inside your mind, we're apart of you, not a creation from your powers. _Raven let a little 'ah' escape her lips. _Now, onto business._ Intelligence said, adjusting the glasses of her nose. Raven allowed herself a small smile; she was frank as always.

_For awhile now, at least two days, _Intelligence beganRaven's jaw dropped in amazement._ Only two days? _Intelligence continued_, Gloomy has had a lovely free rein of her bland sadness and we're all quite sick of it. _She looked to the other emotions, who all nodded, all except Gloomy._ Now, you needed to be brought here so I could explain to you what to do. _

Raven smiled. _I'm assuming you have a plan? _

_As always, _Intelligence grinned back.

x

Slade looked up from what he was doing and glanced at the monitor. She looked to be sleeping. _Again._ How dull... If she didn't wake up soon this would be no fun at all...

x

Raven reopened her eyes, this time not bothered by the insolating darkness. She knew what she needed to do now, and the plan's simplicity astounded her. Why hadn't she thought of it in the first place?

A small peal of laughter echoed in her mind, and despite her surroundings and predicament, Raven smiled. It always seemed that, for some reason, dealing with her emotions at a one on one basis cheered her some how. Shaking her head, Raven shifted her entire body that seemed to have fallen asleep while she was...away. She closed her eyes again and listened. Not with her ears, but with her mind. It didn't take her long to find what she was looking for. Slade had strengthened the power in the ropes so much that the trace and hum of the power was impossible to miss.

Now, Intelligence had said to look for a break, a pause, a _rest_ in the soft hum, and alter it. For one, she had no clue how to accomplish _that_ and Intelligence hadn't given her any substantial help in the matter when she had asked.

_Just...try it. You'll know what to do. _Intelligence had said.

Raven snorted to herself. _Why couldn't you have just taken over?_ She asked her mind, knowing Intelligence was paying close attention to what she did.

_Because I only know what to do, not how to do it, _Intelligence replied, her image flashing up briefly,_ besides, I do intelligent things, make intelligent choices. And sometimes, for all of my intelligence, I do something stupid. You need more than intelligence in situations like these; you need your common sense and instinct, and I'm smart enough to know that. _

Raven accepted the answer with a small now and focused her attention back on the hum of the power. Alter it? Raven wasn't much of a singer, or anything close to a musician, but she did like music, and know a little about it. The simplest of basic stuff, at least.

She could change the key...No, no, that was too complicated; she didn't even know what key it was in now. She thought for a moment. Discord maybe? That might confuse its sound and flow. She hummed the note to herself and tried to create a discord. Raven generated the odd sound, but it didn't work. The power, not recognizing this new sound and not liking it either, lashed out defensively, stabbing Raven's mind until she ceased.

Stars swam before her eyes and she swayed dizzily from shock and pain. Discord. Bad idea. She breathe slowly and deeply until the pain ebbed and she could try again.

Harmonize. Yes, that might work. Raven hummed the root not first, and then went lower, trying her best to harmonize. At first, she succeeded in creating a discord again, but stopped humming before she was attacked. But if at first you don't succeed, try, try again, only more cautiously. The second Raven hummed the harmonized note she could see and feel the power change.

Though unsure of what was happening, the power flowed with Raven's note, its aura changing and its purpose being altered. Raven could almost taste her freedom and power.

With a violent bang, the basement door swung open and light flooded the room. Her concentration broken, Raven withdrew from her mind and blinked rapidly to get used to the sudden violent light. She looked up, wincing as her rigid neck creaked, and stared at Slade.

"Time to go."

X

Nightwing crept silently, stealthily across the rocks lining the island's shore. He was careful not to trigger any alarm systems that Slade may have stationed around the Tower's exterior, but was surprised and a little unnerved to find none.

He was waiting.

Nightwing figured this anyways, but Slade always seemed one step ahead of him, and the prospect was beyond agitating.

He crept up to the door, expecting, _wanting_ something to happen. But Slade undoubtedly didn't want him dead quite yet, and having him temporarily detained would only slow his efforts and plan. So no tricks, bombs or otherwise troublesome distractions.

Nightwing pressed a button next to the door and it slid open with a soft whoosh.

Memories flooded back to him, old ones, long buried but not forgotten. He could almost see them they were so real. But Nightwing shook is head and cleared his mind; they would only pose as unneeded distractions now.

The main hall looked much the same, if years' buildup of dust and other damage wasn't taken into account. There was many footprints leading in and out of the door, but they were all from the same boot.

So she wasn't walking.

Nightwing slowly strode forward, careful to check for any cameras or hidden triggers just in case. Though he expected that Slade knew he was here by now.

But first and foremost, Nightwing needed a plan. He had the faintest formation of one, and even that was sketchy and risky. His most important thing to do first though, was find Raven. Even if he did manage to find and defeat Slade first, there was still the very real possibility that she could somehow die regardless.

So he would search the Tower from basement up for as long as it took, just as long as he found her. Nightwing could think of several places that would be more obvious for keeping prisoners than others, and he would start there first.

Nightwing strode briskly, but not arrogantly, down the hall and turned towards the door leading to the basement. He opened the door and silently made his way down the stairs, deciding to risk a light and trailed his flashlight on the shadows.

He reached the end of the stairs and looked around. Everything was much the same, except covered in dust just like the rest of the Tower would be. Nightwing resisted the urge to call out to Raven, and instead ventured forth into the darkness. He searched the room quickly and effectively, but there was no Raven to be found.

Just as he was about to climb the stairs, Nightwing noticed an impression in the dust at the foot of the stairs. It was hard to discern at first, which was the reason he missed it in the first place, but it was definitely there, and the person who had created it hadn't moved around much. He traced the light around the edges and glimpsed a dark mark trailing away from the metal railing of the staircase. It was blood. _Her_ blood.

Nightwing stood up quickly, pocketing the flashlight. He had been dilly-dallying far too long. Face set and not paying any attention to the noise he made, Nightwing ran up the stairs.

He would have to search the upper floors as fast as humanely possible, but there was something in his gut telling him that she wouldn't be there. Slade had Raven with him, and he knew, somehow, where they were waiting.

He stared at the dull steel door intently, wishing things were...normal again. Yes, he had missed the old days and kicking bad guy ass, but not at the expense of losing someone he loved. Slade was supposed to be dead. He had died twice, and one would think that once would be enough. As much as the twisted man irked him, Nightwing wasn't bound to gamble with Raven's life over Slade's; not now, and not ever. The only thing he had in mind now was getting Raven out alive and safe, and if Slade happened to be decimated in the process, that would just be an added bonus. But what he hated to admit was that he was tired. Tired of playing the game. Tired of defeating Slade, and being taunted by him.

This needed to end.

_Tonight._

X

In the time after Slade had come to collect her, Raven had reentered her mind and her focus on the outside world was lost. She had no idea what he was doing, where they were going, or where Nightwing might be, but all she cared about now was the note. Even if Nightwing did manage to find her, she knew that Slade would harm her in any way possible if she was taken. And she knew Nightwing. She knew that he would be blind of anything else save for getting her out of harms way. She knew he would be an easy target, and an even easier person to control. That's why she needed to be free, to have her powers so she could aid him in every possible way.

Raven refocused herself back on the note. Harmonize. She was so close this time, having lost some of the harmony created before Slade interrupted her. But she paused, thinking.

Without her mind to propel her movements, her body was given only simple functions. Walk in a led direction, sit or lay down when prompted to do so. Raven had checked in from time to time, just to see what her body was doing, and now she was kneeling on cold concrete, with someone, presumably Slade, at her left shoulder.

She exited her mind and looked up at her surroundings. The walls of the Tower's living room stared back at her. The room was blandly illuminated by the waning moon outside and a small lamp to the side.

Raven looked back down, not wanting Slade to know she was awake again. Her heart skipped a beat at the sight that met her eyes, and she wondered if it would have been better or worse for her to have been awake during the time that Slade had dragged her away from the basement.

Strapped to her chest in a sort of half vest without sleeves fashion, were nine blocks of C4. Green wires spiraled in between the blocks, connecting each one to the other in a maze of death. Raven nearly gagged on her horror and revulsion. She couldn't believe that Slade had come to this, this shallow and _cowardly_ way of getting what he wanted. But if the idea disgusted her, the current situation angered her more.

But before she could delve any further into her bubbling anger, the door into the living room slid open with a soft whoosh.

Raven raised her head slightly, eyes wide, and stared the entrance.

"Hello again Nightwing." Slade's silky voice penetrated the powerful stare that gripped Nightwing and Raven's gaze.

Raven blinked and stared back at the floor.

"Let her go Slade." Nightwing responded, his fists at his side tightening in cold-edged fury.

Slade's chuckle, however soft, was heard clearly by everyone in the room. "I think not Nightwing. You see, you and I have some...things to discuss that would be extremely pertinent to Raven's survival."

Raven wanted to listen in longer, but knew her impeccable listening skills would be of no use here. She closed her eyes and entered her mind, sure that this time she would break free and have full contact and use of her powers again.

She hummed as quietly as she could without the noise breaking or faltering, and was relieved when Slade didn't hear her. The note changed, and flowed with the pattern Raven's note made, and she could feel the strength of the power filtering through the ropes weakening.

Within a matter of precious seconds, the power vanished and the note's soft hum ceased and Raven opened her eyes. She noticed a flashing green light positioned in between two blocks of the C4 and her eyes widened. Now it was activated...Raven lifted her head enough to see that Slade was holding his left hand out and grasped tightly in it was the detonator. She wasn't sure what she had missed, but it seemed to be mildly important to her living.

Raven turned her attention away from Slade and focused her comforting stream of power on the ropes binding her hands. The bonds were wrapped in a cloak of ebony power and fell away instantly. Raven looked back up at Nightwing and winked, smiling slightly as he struggled to suppress a slight grin as well.

She then turned her head up slightly and stared at Slade and then at his outstretched hand. Her amethyst eyes glowed white and then she phased through the floor and out of the vest. She reappeared next to Nightwing, smiling.

Slade's eye grew so wide it was almost comical, and Raven would have laughed hysterically had the gravity of the situation not held her mirth. Then with a tired flick of her hand the detonator was destroyed and Slade pushed back over the rotting counter tops and table.

Raven wavered on her feet and Nightwing grasped her shoulders firmly to keep her from toppling over. Her little use of power had taken a lot out of her, and now she was having a difficult time keeping her eyelids from drooping. She had never been this weak, and she didn't like it.

Slade stood up and brushed himself off. "Clever Raven, but unnecessary."

Nightwing's comforting hand fell from Raven's shoulder and moved to his wrist.

"We've had enough of your tricks Slade." He said loudly, nudging Raven to back up towards the window overlooking the bay.

Slade chuckled softly, mockingly, and took a step forward, his hands clasped behind his back. Raven held out her hand again threateningly.

"Stay back you psycho." She growled menacingly. Slade took another step forward, daring her, tempting her.

"You know as well as I that you are weak, as are your powers. Any shields or defensive maneuvers you may use will be easy enough to penetrate." He responded smoothly.

Raven's eyes narrowed and her hand faltered slightly, but stayed up. Faster than her brain could register, Slade pulled a small, but sharp, knife from his belt and threw it at her at an alarming speed. She only just managed to pull up an ebony shield, but to no avail. The knife sliced right through her significantly weakened power and embedded itself in her gut.

The agony of the blade ripping through her skin and internal organs rippled over her body and threatened to overwhelm her. Raven felt Nightwing at her side, holding her up while shouting incoherently at Slade. She could feel the tug of unconscious and nearly succumbed to it, but then her eyes flew open, glowing a dazzling white.

In a sudden burst of anger and hate at Slade being right, and her having to learn it, Raven sent out her power in a vengeful block and knocked Slade through the open door and her powers slammed it shut behind him.

Raven closed her eyes and groaned as she wrenched the knife from her abdomen and tossed it to the side with a clatter. Her hands were dripping with her blood, and a small pool had gathered where it had dribbled off of her torso. Nightwing gently cradled Raven in his arms and tore off a piece of her pants to hinder the blood's bright red flow. The rough piece of cloth did little, and within seconds it was drenched.

"We have to go." He whispered and picked her up tenderly. Raven grunted with pain and wrapped an arm around his neck.

_I sealed off the door so Slade won't be able to get back through, but I don't know how long I can hold it._ Raven's faint mindvoice whispered into Nightwing's mind.

He said nothing, but walked up to the bay window and threw a disk at it. The glass panel froze instantly and Nightwing kicked it with a grunt and it shattered. Something on his wrist beeped and he quickened his pace.

In a swift fluid motion he pulled a black bird-a-rang from his belt and fired it at the large wrap-around couch where it lodged itself nicely. With a sharp last glance at the door Slade was stuck behind, Nightwing jumped out of the window, gripping Raven with all his might.

They landed hard on the gravel and Raven groaned again.

The thing on Nightwing's wrist beeped again. _30 seconds..._

He ran as fast as he dared for his black motorcycle and revved it up, clutching Raven tighter and whispering for her to hold on. Just as he pulled away at an alarming speed, the Tower exploded, Nightwing's carefully planted bombs combining with Slade's in a blast of blinding light and thundering sound.

He drove madly, running a high risk of killing them both in the process of saving her. But he took alleys and dark streets less traveled to save time. Nightwing could feel her slipping, the amount of blood loss taking its fatal toll.

"Hold in there..." He whispered into her blood-matted hair as he increased the bike's speed.

They reached the hospital in record time, considering what it originally would have been. Nightwing screamed for a doctor as soon as he came within shouting range. He gently placed Raven on a gurney that had been wheeled his way.

Within seconds, several nurses surrounded them, checking blood-pressure, looking for a pulse. Nightwing stared down at Raven, worry etched all over his face. Her clothes and face were smeared with her vermilion blood and her chest rose and fell at irregular intervals. Their eyes locked once more before Raven drifted into unconsciousness.

Nightwing back up, letting the myriad of doctor's and nurses do their job. He looked down at his clothing, noticing for the first time that he too was covered in Raven's blood. Content to leave her for five minutes, Nightwing rushed away to discard his nightly façade.

x

They had her stable within minutes and Raven was rushed into surgery to check for damaged organs and to patch up her abdomen. A middle-aged doctor who was slightly shorter than Richard walked up to him and said that she would be fine, and that it was lucky that she was brought in when she was, because she had been fairly close to death.

And then all Richard could do was wait.

Raven slept through the rest of the night, regaining her strength and just sleeping. When morning came and the sun broke over the horizon, she finally woke, her eyes fluttering open drowsily.

Richard had fallen asleep in the chair next to her bed, his head resting next to her body. Raven gently shook his hand and smiled when he looked up at her.

"Is everything alright?" He asked, relieved beyond imagining that she was awake and well.

"Everything is perfect." She whispered back, giving his hand a kind squeeze.

Someone cleared their throat loudly at the doorway and both turned their heads to see Shannon standing there.

Raven's face lit up even more as her friend ambled in bearing gifts; a hot cup of Raven's favorite tea and a box of lovely (and fattening) doughnuts.

Richard stood and offered Shannon his seat and left the room, though not before commandeering one of the glazed doughnuts. His eyes held hers before her strode out of sight and Raven smiled and took an appreciative sip of her tea.

"Yeah, there's definitely nothing going on between you two." Shannon scoffed, stirring her own coffee.

Raven turned to her friend and watched Richard walk away.

"You know, there just might be."

XXXXXX

Yeah, I realize I said no end notes from now on _last_ chapter, but well, what do I know? Heh. Then, I had thought that I'd have another two chapters of this story, where instead I have only one big shebang of a chapter for this story. Now...pop a review for this or skip ahead to the next and leave a very frustrated one there. Either way, it'll make me insanely happy.


	12. Silver Lining

I hope you dropped me a review for the last chapter, because the more the merrier, as they always say.

Now, I realize you all are probably wondering what this chapter could possible entail. Well, you're about to find out so read on. Oh, and if you figured it out from my insanely vague clue in the last chapter, then cookies and Slade plushies will be in order later.

XXXXXX

**Chapter Twelve: Silver Lining **

XXXXXX

_Sometimes it's hard to remember  
when the sky is cold and grey  
that above the clouds the sun is shining down  
in a golden day. _

_So leave your troubles below  
We'll look to the sky above  
__Together we'll find the sunshine for our love _

"Hey, you want to go for a drink?" Shannon asked.

"Sure, why not." Raven responded, tucking a strand of her long mauve hair behind her ear.

The two grabbed their coats and headed to a nearby bar that was surprisingly fairly empty. They ordered their drinks and set about to talking about anything and almost everything, creating enough noise in the process that it made the semi-empty bar sound full of people.

Raven bid Shannon goodnight about thirty minutes later and walked home, enjoying the crisp night air.

What day was it? Wednesday? Thursday? There was a new shipment of romance novels arriving Thursday sometime...

_And I will be your silver lining  
__When storm clouds hide the sun  
__And you will be my rainbow  
__When the storm is done _

"Mommy?"

_beep._

Raven backed up, knowing that sound and loathing and fearing it all at once.

_beepbeep. _

_beepbeepbeep. _

Explosion.

Debris.

_Face..._

Pain.

_Nothing_

_...nothing_

_...nothing..._

Nothing

_No one can see the future  
__We can only know the past  
__And the lessons we learn from experience  
__Are the ones that last _

_Together we'll weather the storms  
__That living will bring our way  
__Together we will find that golden day _

_Yes, I will be your silver lining  
__When storm clouds hide the sun  
__And you will be my rainbow  
__When the storm is done..._

XXXXXX

Hah. HAH. Now you get to mull over that for sometime. As some of you may have guessed, this is a very short preview of the sequel, 'Silver Lining', coming to a computer screen near you. It's all from the first chapter too, since that's the one I have plotted out the most.

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading 'A Time Again' as much as I enjoyed writing it and I thank everyone who reviewed even once for taking time out of your life to read my little story. Later days!


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